Mexican National Sentenced For Meth Distribution

POCATELLO – Juan Ramon Yuen-Rodriguez, 29, of Sinaloa, Mexico, was sentenced today to 210 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for distribution of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.  Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered to pay a $500 fine.  Yuen-Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the charge on May 24, 2014. 

According to the plea agreement, on various dates, including August 14, 2013, Yuen-Rodriguez agreed with an undercover officer to deliver methamphetamine to an undercover officer in Heyburn, Idaho.  While driving to the meeting, Yuen-Rodriguez, along with co-defendant Jose Felix-Burgos, were stopped by law enforcement.  In a box in the back seat of the vehicle officers found 2024 grams of actual methamphetamine.  At sentencing Judge Winmill commented that part of the reason for the sentence imposed was that he believed Yuen-Rodriguez’ sole purpose for coming to the United States was to sell large quantities of drugs.  Co-defendant Felix-Burgos is scheduled to be sentenced October 7, 2014.

The case 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, U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Canyon County Narcotics Unit, Meridian Police Department, Ada County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho State Police, and the Mini-Cassia Drug Task Force.

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.