Posted: Mar 04, 2015 11:17 AM PST Updated: Mar 04, 2015 11:33 AM PST
By: David Sherman, MTN News

GREAT FALLS -- A federal jury in Great Falls on Tuesday convicted Eduardo Ocegueda-Ruiz, 30, of Los Angeles, California, of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

Judge Brian Morris has scheduled sentencing for June 3.

Ocegueda-Ruiz, who has been convicted previously of numerous drug felonies in California, faces life in prison, and if he is ever released, a lifetime of supervised release, and $10,000,000 in fines.

Ocegueda-Ruiz was charged in a multiple-count indictment with 19 other defendants as part of a methamphetamine conspiracy entitled “Operation Highline Crystal Highway.”

The 19 co-defendants have all pleaded guilty to felony drugs and gun charges and are awaiting sentencing.

During the two-day trial, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Betley and Tara Elliott presented evidence that during the winter and spring of 2013, the Russell Country Drug Task Force began to investigate a large-scale methamphetamine trafficking organization in Great Falls.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office says that over the next 18 months, agents discovered that large amounts of methamphetamine were routinely being transported from Los Angeles, California, to various areas of Montana, including Butte, Great Falls, and Havre, by Ocegueda-Ruiz and co-defendant Joshua Rodriguez.

Intercepted conversations and informants provided evidence that Ocegueda-Ruiz wanted to come to Montana to “kick in doors with guns blazing,” and appeared to be Rodriguez's "strong arm" and enforcer.

Ocegueda-Ruiz told co-defendants that he is “illegal” and described how he crosses the border from Mexico into the United States.

In addition, Ocegueda-Ruiz admitted to other members of the conspiracy that he and Rodriguez intended to kill another conspirator because the conspirator was “out of control” and causing too much trouble.

Witnesses said that Ocegueda-Ruiz regularly brandished firearms as a way to intimidate and threaten other people involved in the drug distribution operation.

Ocegueda-Ruiz and Rodriguez made a final trip from California to Montana on September 25, 2014.

At approximately 4 a.m., California Highway Patrol Troopers conducted a traffic stop on a car driven by Rodriguez near Victorville, California.

Troopers identified Rodriguez as the driver of the car and Ocegueda-Ruiz as the passenger.

A CHP drug dog alerted the officers to the rear of the car, where troopers seized 888.1 grams, or approximately two pounds, of pure methamphetamine. Troopers also seized a scale and empty baggies.

Knowing that Rodriguez and the defendant were the subject of the Montana investigation, and that allowing the pair to continue on would further that investigation, the troopers advised Ocegueda-Ruiz and Rodriguez that criminal charges would be forthcoming but that they would be released until charges were filed.

Ocegueda-Ruiz and Rodriguez were allowed to leave and continued, under law enforcement surveillance, to Montana.

When Rodriguez and Ocegueda-Ruiz arrived in Montana, they dropped off some methamphetamine in Butte and then continued to Great Falls.

Ocegueda-Ruiz and Rodriguez checked into a Great Falls hotel and then Ocegueda-Ruiz went directly to Holiday Village Mall where he conducted a transaction involving the exchange of guns and drugs.

Ocegueda-Ruiz went into a restaurant and was arrested when he came out. Ocegueda-Ruiz had a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol in his waistband and a loaded 40-caliber pistol in a restaurant take-out bag.

He was also carrying about 70 rounds of ammunition.

A search of their hotel room yielded approximately another five pounds of pure methamphetamine.

The street value of the methamphetamine seized by the California Highway Patrol and the Russell Country Drug Task Force was approximately $340,000.

(September 26, 2014) Law enforcement officers have taken at least one person into custody after an incident in the parking lot of Holiday Village Mall on Friday afternoon.

Witnesses at the scene tell us that officers had their weapons drawn, and had one person on the ground in handcuffs; officers also searched a car in the area.

One witness said that the man was "tackled to the ground," and that officers pulled what appeared to be several guns and other items out of a bag the man was holding.

We do not yet know if this incident is related to the helicopter was seen above the area at the same time.

We have learned that the Russell Country Drug Task Force has been "active" today, but do not yet know if they were involved in this incident.

We are working to get details about what happened and will update you as we get more information.

-- UPDATE, 9 pm: The Great Falls Police Department is unable to release any details at this point, telling us only that the case is being handled by detectives.

http://www.krtv.com/story/28261899/j...to-great-falls