Two Arizona men who were stopped by a Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy late last year and found to be hauling heroin and fentanyl, were sentenced last week to 5-and 10-years in prison, respectively. 39 year-old Richard Ortiz received a sentence to 60 months of imprisonment, and 34 year-old Gerardo Alatorre Quintero was sentenced to 120 months. Both terms will be followed by  five years of supervised release.

Ortiz pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance on July 6, 2018. Alatorre Quintero pled guilty to the same charge on August 7, 2018.

On November 17, 2017, Ortiz and Alatorre Quintero were driving a U-Haul truck when they were stopped by a Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s deputy for speeding. Ortiz gave the deputy permission to search the U-Haul, and the deputy located 25 packages hidden inside tires inside the U-Haul. The heroin weighed 6.97 kilograms, and the fentanyl weighed 15.62 kilograms.

The matter was investigated by the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office, the Southwest Iowa Narcotics Enforcement Task Force, and Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement (DNE). Their case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.