Nov. 05, 2013
Contact: Public Information Officer
Number: (313) 234-4310
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A U.S. District Court jury convicted Jaime Ruiz-Montes, 43, of Las Vegas, Nevada for his role in a heroin trafficking organization operating in central Ohio.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Robert L. Corso, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement (DEA) and Colonel Paul Pride, Superintendent of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, announced the verdict returned today following a trial that began October 30 before Senior U.S. District Judge Peter C. Economus.
Trial testimony showed that on January 7, 2013, law enforcement officers from the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA), along with troopers of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, arrested Ruiz-Montes in Columbus after he met with Marcos Osorio, 35, of Columbus and obtained a package containing nearly two kilograms of suspected heroin from Osorio’s vehicle.
Both Osorio and the passenger in Ruiz-Montes’ vehicle, Benjamin Uribe-Cervantes, 37, of Columbus, were also arrested. All three men were charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin along with substantive heroin trafficking charges. Osorio and Uribe-Cervantes each pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges.
The jury convicted Ruiz-Montes of one count of conspiracy, and one count of attempted possession with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin, each crime punishable by at least 20 years and up to life in prison.
Judge Economus will schedule a date for sentencing Ruiz-Montes and Uribe-Cervantes. Osorio is scheduled to be sentenced on January 7, 2014. All three have been in custody since their arrest.
U.S. Attorney Stewart commended the investigation conducted by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, DEA and the Franklin County Drug Task Force.
