From the Courts - Washington man sentenced to 33 months in prison for trafficking meth, fentanyl to Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana

GREAT FALLS  — A Washington man who admitted to bringing methamphetamine and fentanyl pills to the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation for distribution was sentenced today to 33 months in prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Hugo Gutierrez Rodriguez, aka Victor aka Juice, 42, of Yakima, Washington, pleaded guilty in September 2022 to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

The government alleged in court documents that in the spring of 2021, Rodriguez was working with a group of men from Yakima to bring drugs to Montana and to the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation. Law enforcement in Montana confronted Rodriguez about drug trafficking in October 2021. Nonetheless, in early February 2022, Rodriguez sold meth and 400 fentanyl pills to an informant. A short time later, Rodriguez was traveling to Montana with more than 300 fentanyl pills and 152 grams of meth when he was stopped and arrested.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan R. Plaut prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, Tri-Agency Task Force, Rocky Boy’s Police Department and Idaho State Police.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.