Yakima man sentenced for local drug sales

A Yakima, Wash., man will spend nearly six years in federal prison for selling massive amounts of drugs in north-central Montana.

The Tri-Agency Safe Trails Task Force announced Wednesday that Xavier Luis Rodriguez, 25, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Yakima for selling at least 5 pounds of methamphetamine and 100 pounds of marijuana in the region of Havre and the Rocky Boy’s and Fort Belknap Indian reservations.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice sentenced Rodriguez to 70 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release, the task force said in a release about the sentencing.

The judgment was entered in the federal system Tuesday.

Rodriguez was indicted Oct. 10, 2012, of two counts of selling meth, one alleging he sold the drug between Jan. 1, 2011, through Aug. 29, 2012, and the second specifying he sold meth on July 24, 2012.

March 31 Rodriguez pleaded guilty in a plea agreement to the second count of selling meth and the first count was dismissed.

According to the press release, task force agents received information early in 2012 that Rodriguez was moving large amounts of the drugs in this area.

Later that year, task force agents and a confidential informant, working with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, conducted controlled purchases of methamphetamine from Rodriguez.

The investigation revealed the sale of the 5 pounds of meth and 100 pounds of marijuana in this area, the release said.