NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

JOHN F. WOOD

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

JUNE 9, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEXICAN NATIONAL SENTENCED TO 17 YEARS

FOR METH CONSPIRACY

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Phoenix, Ariz., man was sentenced in federal court today for participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Jesus Manuel Reyes-Ruiz, 30, a citizen of Mexico who was residing in Phoenix, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple this afternoon to 17 years and six months in federal prison without parole.

On Sept. 14, 2007, Reyes-Ruiz pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine from March 1 to Nov. 13, 2006.

Co-defendants Tomas Martinez-Castelo, 32, and Jose Angel Aragon-Hernandez, 32, both citizens of Mexico who were residing in Kansas City, were each sentenced on May 5, 2008, to 11 years and three months in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty to their roles in the methamphetamine conspiracy.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine A. Connelly. It was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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