NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
John L. Brownlee United States Attorney Brian McGinn Public Affairs Specialist |
BB&T Building 310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906 Roanoke, Virginia 24011 (540) 857-2974 FAX (540) 857-2179 |
May 5, 2008
MEMBER OF DRUG RING SENTENCED TO 100 MONTHS FOR CONSPIRING TO DISTRIBUTE MORE THAN FOUR KILOGRAMS OF METHAMPHETAMINE
United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that Juan Lopez-Aguirre, age 44, a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced today in District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg for his role in a drug conspiracy that distributed more than 500 grams of methamphetamine throughout the Western District of Virginia.
“Today’s sentence ensures the members of our community that one less drug dealer will be roaming their streets tonight,” United States Attorney John Brownlee said today. “The men and women who investigated this case should be proud that because of their hard work, there are fewer illegal drugs on our streets today.”
Lopez-Aguirre was sentenced to serve 100 months in Federal Prison for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, its salts, isomers and salts of its isomers and more than 500 grams of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine.
The defendant was charged, along with Jose Baeza-Mendez, age 45, Javier Soto-Hernandez, age 33, also citizens of Mexico, and Roy Lee Liptrap, age 34, of Waynesboro, in an 18-count indictment in August of 2007. Lopez-Aguirre pled guilty to the conspiracy charge on February 20, 2008.
Soto-Hernandez pled guilty to one count of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute over 50 grams of methamphetamine and over 500 grams of a substance containing measurable amounts of methamphetamine in October of 2007. He was sentenced to 168 months of federal incarceration to be followed by five years of supervised release on January 8, 2008.
Liptrap pled guilty to one count of possession with the intent to distribute over 500 grams of a substance containing a measurable amount of methamphetamine in October of 2007. On January 8, 2008 he was sentenced to 57 months of federal incarceration to be followed by five years of supervised release. Baeza-Mendez has been a fugitive from justice since September of 2007.
During his guilty plea, Lopez-Aguirre acknowledged that he was responsible for conspiring to distribute more than 4.5 Kilograms of methamphetamine. The case culminated a two-year investigation which revealed some of the highest purity levels of methamphetamine ever seized by law enforcement in the Shenandoah Valley.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the RUSH Drug Task Force and the August County Sheriff’s Office for the United States Attorney’s Office, Western District of Virginia. Assistant United States Attorney Jake Jacobsen prosecuted the case.