Minnesota Man Sentenced in Methamphetamine Conspiracy

US Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Minnesota man charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance was sentenced on July 16, 2012, by Chief US District Judge Karen E. Schreier. Rosendo Garcia-Navarro, age 44, who maintained residences in Perris, California, and Hasty, Minnesota, was sentenced to 230 months in prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release. The Court also ordered the forfeiture of over $100,000. Another $50,000 had been previously forfeited.

Garcia-Navarro joined a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in South Dakota and elsewhere that began in about the summer of 2008. During his involvement, Garcia-Navarro obtained and distributed methamphetamine in the St. Cloud, Minnesota, area. His involvement in the conspiracy ended with his arrest on March 4, 2011. When arrested, Garcia-Navarro was driving a Ford Ranger with hidden compartments. The compartments contained approximately two-thirds of a pound of high-purity methamphetamine and over $50,000 in cash. Subsequent to his arrest, police also located over $100,000 in drug proceeds which was being held on behalf of Garcia-Navarro by third parties.

Garcia-Navarro pled guilty to the offense on April 13, 2012. As part of his guilty plea, Garcia-Navarro admitted that the drug conspiracy distributed up to five kilograms of methamphetamine.

When he was sentenced, Judge Schreier found that Garcia-Navarro was a leader of the conspiracy which had at least five members who distributed methamphetamine under Garcia-Navarro’s direction.

The investigation was a combined effort of local, state, and federal authorities in South Dakota and Minnesota, including the Sheriff’s Offices of Stearns, Benton, and Todd County, MN; the Police Departments of Wadena and St. Cloud, MN; the Buffalo Ridge Drug Task Force; the Central Minnesota Drug and Gang Task Force; the Sioux Falls Police Department; the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; the Minnehaha County, SD Sheriff’s Office; the US Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.

The defendant has been in custody since his arrest.