FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 19, 2008
RURY MEZA SENTENCED IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Missoula, on May 16, 2008, before U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, RURY MEZA, a 21-year-old resident of California, appeared for sentencing. MEZA was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 37 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: 4 years
MEZA was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
A Montana Highway Patrol officer stopped a vehicle MEZA was a passenger in for speeding. The driver's confusing answers to routine questions aroused the suspicion of the officer. The officer then questioned the driver and MEZA separately and their stories were starkly different.
During a search of the driver and his personal belongings, the officer found methamphetamine and material used to package the methamphetamine, including plastic baggies and gray duct tape, in a bag belonging to the driver. The driver was then arrested and the vehicle impounded.
The officer then offered MEZA a ride to town. MEZA accepted and grabbed his bag. The officer advised MEZA he would have to search the bag before he could allow it in his patrol car and MEZA agreed to the search. Inside MEZA'S bag, the officer found baggies and duct tape similar to those found in the driver's bag, and also found over an ounce of what appeared to be methamphetamine. MEZA was then arrested.
Later officers learned from an informant who had been in jail with MEZA, that while in jail, MEZA had bragged that the officers had missed a large quantity of methamphetamine when they searched the car. Armed with a new search warrant, officers searched the car again. As MEZA had described, the officers found approximately 10 more ounces of methamphetamine in the car.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that MEZA will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, MEZA does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Van de Wetering prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Montana Highway Patrol.
