Date: 04-04-2024

Case Style:

United States of America v. Francisco Ruellas-Gonzalez; Jaime Renteria

Case Number: 2:23-cr-00098

Judge: Not Available

Court: The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Franklin County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: The United States Attorney’s Office in Columbus

Defendant's Attorney: Adam Lee Nemann - 614-333-6007

Description:

Columbus, Ohio criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with narcotics crimes .

Repeat offenders sentenced to 10 years in prison for narcotics crimes

Two Columbus residents have each been sentenced to 120 months in prison for federal drug crimes. The defendants were previously convicted in the Southern District of Ohio in 2018.

Francisco Ruellas-Gonzalez, 31, pleaded guilty in November 2023 to possessing with the intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and 10 grams or more of fentanyl analogue. He was sentenced in federal court today.

According to court documents, in 2022 and 2023, Ruellas-Gonzalez and his co-defendant Jaime Renteria, 33, used a residence on Clearhurst Drive as a drug stash house. The apartment had minimal furnishings and no electricity. At the time, the two defendants were residing on Athalia Drive in Columbus.

When law enforcement officers executed search warrants at the two residences and on the defendants themselves and their vehicles, they discovered approximately 448 grams of methamphetamine, 751 grams of fentanyl and/or a fentanyl analogue (including 1,449 tablets marked as oxycodone), 226 grams of heroin, and 12 grams of cocaine; five firearms and ammunition; and $28,925 in drug proceeds.

These are the defendants’ second federal drug trafficking convictions in less than five years. Ruellas-Gonzalez was sentenced in 2018 to serve 24 months in prison for distributing heroin and cocaine and was deported to Mexico for the fourth time. Renteria was sentenced in 2018 to 46 months in prison and was released early under the First Step Act in January 2022.

Renteria pleaded guilty in August 2023 to possessing with the intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, 100 grams or more of fentanyl analogue and 100 grams or more of heroin. He was sentenced in January to 120 months in prison.

Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Orville O. Greene, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Detroit Division; announced the sentences imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. Assistant United States Attorney Nicole Pakiz is representing the United States in this case.

This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. More information about OCDETF can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

Outcome:

Defendant was found guilty and each been sentenced to 120 months in prison

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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