California Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Distribute Methamphetamine

A man who conspired to distribute methamphetamine in Dubuque, Iowa, pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids.  Juan Jose Ruiz, age 29, from California, was convicted of conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, and 50 grams or more of actual (pure) methamphetamine.   

In a plea agreement, Ruiz admitted that between January 2021 and December 2021, he agreed with others to distribute methamphetamine.  On December 14, 2021, in Clear Creek County, Colorado, law enforcement officers stopped Ruiz as he was driving to Dubuque.  Officers found over 25 pounds of ice methamphetamine in his car.  Ruiz intended to distribute the methamphetamine to a co-conspirator in Dubuque.   

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Ruiz remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Ruiz faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, a $10,000,000 fine, and a lifetime of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Devra T. Hake and was investigated by the Dubuque Drug Task Force, Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office, Dubuque Police Department, Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Group, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Criminalistics Laboratory.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 23-CR-1006.  

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