BROOKINGS A California man was sentenced to 18 years and four months in federal prison after complaints about his driving in Brookings led to the discovery of approximately 30 pounds of methamphetamine.
According to a release from the U.S. Attorneys Office, Jose Rolando Gonzalez, 56, of Salinas, California, was sentenced on Feb. 5 in federal court in Sioux Falls. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay $100 to the Federal Victims Crime Fund.
Gonzalez was arrested in Brookings on Sept. 25, 2022. He was traveling through Brookings when a police officer approached his car at a local gas station in regards to complaints about his driving.
The BPD officer used his onsite K9 to check the car for drugs and eventually performed a search of the vehicle, which led to the discovery of 29.51 pounds of meth. Gonazalez was traveling from California to bring the drugs to Minnesota with the intention of distributing them.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance on Nov. 6.
According to the original Register report: The case originated with a traffic complaint on Interstate 29 south of Brookings, according to a probable cause statement from the BPD. The BPD and the South Dakota Highway Patrol found the vehicle in question at a gas station in the 3000 block of Lefevre Drive. While questioning the vehicles occupants, officers detected indicators of criminal activity, according to the release, and then deployed Gina, a K9 unit. During a search, suspected drugs were allegedly discovered in both the vehicles passenger compartment and the trunk, mostly in vacuum-sealed and cellophane-wrapped packages, the probable cause statement reports.
The case was investigated jointly by the South Dakota Highway Patrol, the BPD and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paige Peterson prosecuted the case.
Leave a Reply