Leader in meth ring gets 22 ½ years in prison

GREAT FALLS – A judge Thursday sentenced a leader in a drug ring that prosecutors say flooded central Montana with high-grade methamphetamine from California, marking the end of an investigation that resulted in the arrest and conviction of 20 people.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris sentenced Joshua Alberto Rodriguez, 29, of Los Angeles, to 22 1/2 years in prison. Rodriguez previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth, conspiracy involving firearm and drug trafficking crimes, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Betley described Rodriguez as the kingpin who made at least 13 trips to Great Falls in 2014. He would hand off pounds of nearly pure meth that he had transported in rental cars and stick around town until others had sold the drug from Havre to Butte and brought him the profits.

Rodriguez, speaking through an interpreter, apologized. But he told the judge he was not the leader of the organization as he asked for a lighter sentence.

“I’m sorry to all of Montana for having brought what I brought here,” he told Morris. “I am guilty, but not of being the boss.”

Prosecutors estimated the drug ring sold 50 pounds of meth in Montana between 2013-14, and authorities seized an additional 13 pounds when they moved in to shut it down in September. Great Falls police Detective Jason Gange estimated Rodriguez bought the drugs for $3,000 a pound in California and sold them for $17,000 to $20,000 per pound in Montana.