Acting United States Attorney Gregory G. Brooker today announced the sentencing of four individuals for their roles in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy. MIGUEL RIOS-QUINTERO, 26, HERNESTO JESUS MONTES, 22, ERIVAN ARGENIX GOMEZ, 21, and HANNAH LEE DALTON, 26, all pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and have been sentenced before Senior Judge Michael J. Davis in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minn.
According to the defendants’ guilty pleas and documents filed in court, in March 2016, the four defendants conspired to distribute methamphetamine throughout the Leech Lake Indian Reservation and surrounding areas. On March 8, 2016, law enforcement officers conducted two simultaneous traffic stops of two vehicles traveling together from the Leech Lake Indian Reservation. As a result of the traffic stops on the two vehicles - occupied by RIOS-QUINTERO, MONTES, and GOMEZ - law enforcement officers seized more than 1,400 grams of methamphetamine that had been thrown into a wooded area, approximately 3.5 pounds of marijuana, and more than $5,000 in cash. That same day, upon execution of a search warrant of co-defendant DALTON’S residence, law enforcement officers recovered an additional 452 grams of methamphetamine.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Red Lake Tribal Police Department, FBI Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force, Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force, Leech Lake Police Department, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Deidre Y. Aanstad prosecuted this case.
Defendant Information:
MIGUEL RIOS-QUINTERO, 26
Minneapolis, MN
Convicted:
* Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, 1 count
Sentenced:
*
108 months in prison
* Three years of supervised release
HERNESTO JESUS MONTES, 22
Brooklyn Park, Minn.
Convicted:
* Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, 1 count
Sentenced:
*
60 months in prison
* Three years of supervised release
ERIVAN ARGENIX GOMEZ, 21
Minneapolis, Minn.
Convicted:
* Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, 1 count
Sentenced:
*
78 months in prison
* Three years of supervised release
HANNAH LEE DALTON, 26
Cass Lake, Minn.
Convicted:
* Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, 1 count
Sentenced:
*
78 months in prison
*
Three years of supervised release
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
