http://www.helenair.com/articles/2006/1 ... 506_02.txt

Man gets 6 years for part in meth ring

By EVE BYRON - IR Staff Writer - 11/25/06
The final man involved in a methamphetamine distribution ring in Helena and Townsend was sentenced to jail time this week in federal court in Missoula.

Jorge Arturo Barragan-Arteaga, a 40-year-old Mexico resident, will spend the next six years behind bars in connection with his guilty plea to distributing meth in a school zone — in particular, from his house in the Stewart Homes public housing complex near Helena High School.

The case began with an investigation by the Missouri River Drug Task Force in September 2005. A confidential informant had purchased a half-gram of purported methamphetamine from Larry Gallegos, who told the informant to give the money for the drug to Liza Louise Larue.

This information led the informant to make another drug buy in October from Barragan-Arteaga, who lived with Larae Barragan in a Stewart Homes apartment. Barragan-Arteaga was arrested, and told police that Gallegos was bringing meth from California to Montana, then distributed it to himself, Larue and others for redistribution.

When Larae Barragan was interviewed, she said she traveled with Barragan-Arteaga and Tara Weller to California to buy meth and bring it back to Montana for distribution.

Barragan, Gallegos, Larue and Weller all pleaded guilty to and have been sentenced on federal drug charges.

Barragan, 39, was sentenced to 27 months in prison, after she pleaded guilty in April to distributing meth in a school zone. Larue, 32, received a 54-month prison term after pleading guilty to distributing meth; Gallegos, 59, was sentenced to 10-years behind bars in connection with his guilty plead for possession of meth with the intent to distribute it.

Weller, 21, pleaded guilty in April to distribution of meth near a public school and was placed on house arrest for five months.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, Barragan-Arteaga and the others are expected to serve the entire sentence imposed by the court. However, they do have an opportunity to have the sentence reduced by up to 15 percent for “good behavior.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph E. Thaggard prosecuted the case for the United States.