Defendant Sentenced for Selling Meth on AK-Chin
Indian Reservation
Suspect caught in undercover operation

NOV 16 -- PHOENIX  – Arnulfo Arrellanes, 38, of Maricopa, Ariz. was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison on Nov. 8, 2010, by the Honorable Susan R. Bolton after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine.

The Ak-Chin Police Department, the Gila River Police Department and the Bureau of Indian Affairs conducted an undercover operation beginning in 2008 and continuing through the spring of 2009 targeting methamphetamine sales on the Ak-Chin Indian Reservation. 

During this operation, Arrellanes and Ruperto Lopez-Rodriguez, 65, sold a total of 34 grams of “actual” methamphetamine to an undercover police officer on five separate occasions.

“Actual” methamphetamine refers to the weight of the illegal controlled substance itself, or the pure 100 percent methamphetamine, contained in the overall illegal mixture or substance sold.       

In September 2010, Lopez-Rodriguez was sentenced to18 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. 

Lopez-Rodriguez lived with Arrellanes on the Ak-Chin Indian Reservation.  He assisted Arrellanes in selling methamphetamine between April and May 2009.

The Ak-Chin Police Department, the Gila River Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Indian Affairs conducted the investigation.  Christina J. Reid-Moore, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix handled the prosecution.

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