minnesota man sentenced to 50 years in federal prison
Contact: Peter Deegan
A man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine and kidnaped someone to collect a drug debt was sentenced December 21, 2010, to 50 years in federal prison.
German Robles-Garcia, 29, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, received the prison term after an August 26, 2010, jury verdict finding him guilty of kidnaping and conspiring to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine.
Evidence at trial showed Robles-Garcia conspired to distribute methamphetamine and more than five kilograms of cocaine from April 2009 through about February 2010 in the Sioux City, Iowa, area. Robles-Garcia traveled to Iowa to recoup about $100,000 in drug proceeds owed him by a fellow drug dealer, Martin Garcia-Huerta. To do this, Robles-Garcia and two others kidnaped Raul Tapia. Robles-Garcia held a gun to Tapia’s head demanding to know where Garcia-Huerta was, and Tapia was sent to collect drug proceeds and provide them to Robles-Garcia.
Robles-Garcia was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett. Robles-Garcia was sentenced to 600 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $200 was imposed. He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Robles-Garcia is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert A. Knief and investigated by the Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, that consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration; Sioux City, Iowa, Police Department; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office; South Sioux City, Nebraska, Police Department; Nebraska State Patrol; Iowa National Guard; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; United States Marshals Service; South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; and Woodbury County Attorney’s Office.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 10-4011.
