Source: United States Department of Justice News
Rojas received meth from Mexico concealed in decorative masks.
A Dakota City, Nebraska woman who conspired to distribute methamphetamine was sentenced August 3, 2022, to more than 8 years in federal prison.
Erika Rojas, age 38, from Dakota City, Nebraska, received the prison term after a March 16, 2022, guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
Rojas admitted to being part of a drug ring selling large quantities of methamphetamine in the tri-state area. Rojas and her co-defendants, Anthony Crist, Dennys Rodriguez, and Randall Nichols received methamphetamine from Mexico through the mail in the form of decorative masks that covered the wax methamphetamine mixture. Rojas’ co-defendants would then extract the meth from the masks and redistribute the methamphetamine around Sioux City. A search of Rojas’s storage locker resulted in the decorative masks being found and multiple pounds of methamphetamine recovered. Rojas was the last of her co-conspirators to be sentenced.
Rojas was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Rojas was sentenced to 102 months’ imprisonment. She must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Rojas is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until she can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jack Lammers and investigated by Tri-State Drug Task Force based in Sioux City, Iowa, that consists of law enforcement personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration; Sioux City, Iowa, Police Department; Homeland Security Investigations; Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office; South Sioux City, Nebraska, Police Department; Nebraska State Patrol; Iowa National Guard; Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement; United States Marshals Service; South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation; and Woodbury County Attorney’s Office.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 21-4046.
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