LAS VEGAS, NV — A local man who possessed ten pounds of methamphetamine in his car and another 10 pounds of methamphetamine in a rented storage locker in Las Vegas, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, officials said.
U.S. District Court Gloria M. Navarro sentenced John Ortega, 25, of Las Vegas, last week after Ortega plead guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of money laundering.
According to the court records, law enforcement learned in early 2013 that Ortega was supplying pound quantities of methamphetamine to co-defendant Keith Alcos, of Honolulu, Hawaii.
In August 2013, law enforcement learned that on Aug. 21, Alcos and two other co-defendants, James Richardson, Jr., and George Flores, were traveling from Honolulu to Las Vegas to obtain methamphetamine.
Law enforcement conducted surveillance of the defendants when they arrived in Las Vegas, and detected phone calls between the co-defendants and Ortega. On Aug. 25, they followed Ortega from his residence to a storage facility, where Ortega entered a storage unit and left with a black bag, officials said.
A traffic stop on Ortega’s vehicle resulted in the search of the vehicle where about five pounds of methamphetamine from a compartment were found. A later search of the storage unit resulted in the recovery of approximately 10 pounds of liquid methamphetamine, $13,000, and a 9 mm handgun with an obliterated serial number, according to authorities.
Investigators determined that Ortega rented the storage locker using a fake Mexican driver’s license bearing his photograph but the name of Jose Veltran Perez.
Keith Alcos pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 8. Richardson, Jr. and Flores are fugitives.