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Date: 04-07-2023
Case Style:
Case Number: 4:21-cr-00077
Judge: Beth Phillips
Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri (Jackson County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office in Kansas City
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Kansas City, Missouri criminal defense lawyers represented Defendants charged with drug trafficking and felony firearm possession.
ustavo Renteria-Rojas, 39, a citizen of Mexico residing in Evanston, Ill. and co-defendant, Jose Alfredo Renteria-Rojas, 34, a citizen of Mexico residing in Des Plaines, Illinois, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
Gustavo Renteria-Rojas was driving a white 2011 Volkswagen Jetta SE on April 5, 2021, and Jose Renteria-Rojas was a passenger in the vehicle, which was stopped by a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper on eastbound I-70 in Saline County, Mo. The trooper could smell the odor of burnt and raw marijuana emanating from the vehicle as he stood outside the front passenger-side window. He also noticed a marijuana blunt in the center console. When Gustavo Renteria-Rojas opened the glove box to retrieve the requested paperwork, a bag of marijuana was visible in plain view.
Gustavo Renteria-Rojas was placed in the trooper’s patrol car. The trooper requested Jose Renteria-Rojas, in the rear passenger seat, to exit the vehicle for a vehicle search. As Jose Renteria-Rojas did so, air fresheners fell from the car. Jose Renteria-Rojas then collected them and put them in the door pocket, which also contained a loaded Smith & Wesson .380-caliber handgun with a magazine, as well as an extra magazine.
The trooper searched the vehicle and found four white cardboard boxes in the trunk that contained 36 packages with a total of 88.7 pounds of methamphetamine. The trooper also found a methamphetamine smoking pipe concealed within a roll of toilet paper on the driver’s seat where Gustavo Renteria-Rojas had been sitting.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Rhoades. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Outcome: Gustavo Renteria-Rojas was sentenced to 11 years and six months in federal prison without parole.
Jose Alfredo Renteria-Rojas was sentenced to 11 years and six months in federal prison without parole.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
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