Grants Pass Brothers Sentenced To Federal Prison For Drug Trafficking
MEDFORD, Ore - On Monday, January 12, 2015, Senior U.S. District Judge Owen M. Panner sentenced Marco Antonio Gutierrez, 36, of Grants Pass, Oregon, to 14 years in federal prison, and his brother Samuel De La Cruz Gutierrez, 43, to 10 years in federal prison, after they pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine and heroin with intent to distribute. Both men will be on five years of supervised release after they complete their prison terms.
On January 21, 2014, a search warrant was executed at the Gutierrez brothers’ residence in Grants Pass, Oregon. The Gutierrez brothers were selling methamphetamine and heroin, possessed numerous firearms, and were frequently armed. Samuel and Marco Gutierrez were arrested just outside the front door. Samuel Gutierrez possessed $808 cash and several oxycodone pills. Marco Gutierrez possessed $4,982 cash and a user amount of methamphetamine. Inside the trailer officers found 116 grams actual methamphetamine, 870 grams of heroin, packaging materials, scales, and drug records. Officers also found several loaded firearms throughout the trailer, including a sawed-off shotgun, a stolen Colt .45 handgun, a .25 handgun, a .22 caliber revolver, a Smith and Wesson 9mm handgun, a Ruger .380 handgun, and a stolen Ruger Mini 14 assault rifle in a gun bag with three loaded high capacity magazines. Officers also found other stolen property, including a quad ATV and motorcycle.
Marco Gutierrez’s previous felony convictions include sale or transportation of marijuana in 1996, inflicting corporal injury on spouse in 2008, and transportation of a controlled substance in 2008. Marco Gutierrez also had a pending California charge from September 2013 in which multiple firearms and several rounds of ammunition were discovered in his vehicle during a traffic stop. Samuel Gutierrez has no prior criminal history.
This case was investigated jointly by the Rogue Area Drug Enforcement Team, the U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and (ATF), and Immigration and Customs (ICE).
