Jesus Guillermo Valenzuela-Ramirez, a 30-year-old resident of Imuris, Sonora, Mexico, has been sentenced to 90 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps for his involvement in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy. Following his prison term, Valenzuela-Ramirez will serve four years of supervised release and must pay a $100 special assessment.
Authorities say that on July 1, 2024, in Phoenix, Arizona, Valenzuela-Ramirez and others were found with about 100 pounds of methamphetamine intended for delivery to another individual later that day.
The case was part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative created under Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. According to officials, "The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States."
The investigation in Tucson was led by agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS). Assistant U.S. Attorney David Petermann from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona handled prosecution duties.
More information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona can be found at http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
