Fernando Luna-Rodriguez, 32, of El Sinore, California, was sentenced today to thirty months in prison for distributing methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge also ordered Luna-Rodriguez to serve five years of supervised release following his prison term and 80 hours of community service. Luna- Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the charge on March 29, 2011.

According to court documents, on March 2010, Luna-Rodriguez delivered approximately two pounds of methamphetamine to co-defendants at Fruteria Y Abarrotes La Michoacana, a store in Weiser, Idaho. At the time, investigators with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Nampa City Police Department were watching the store in connection with an ongoing drug investigation and observed Luna-Rodriguez deliver the methamphetamine. Luna-Rodriguez was arrested later and charged with twelve others in a seventeen count superseding indictment filed on August 11, 2010. Several co-defendants have entered pleas related to these charges and are awaiting sentencing.

Co-defendant Ricardo Payan-Beltran, 39, a Mexican national, was sentenced on June 8 to 30 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, and marijuana. He was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

The indictment was the result of a joint investigation of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), led by the Drug Enforcement Administration in conjunction with the Nampa City Police Department.

The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.