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Last of 15 drug-ring defendants sentenced


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POSTED: Sunday, August 02, 2009

A U.S. District Court judge in Hawaii sentenced the last of 15 defendants in a Las Vegas-to-Hawaii methamphetamine smuggling ring to prison last week, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo Jr. said in a news release.

Judge J. Michael Seabright sentenced Hector Cruz, 38, of Las Vegas, to 14 1/2 years in prison on Tuesday for selling one pound of the drug to an undercover Honolulu police officer in March 2007.

According to court documents, the group was responsible for shipping thousands of pounds of methamphetamine from Las Vegas to Hawaii between 2005 and 2007.

The case was the result of a three-year investigation that included extensive wire-tap evidence.

The leader of ring, 46-year-old Nelson Gaitan-Ayala of Las Vegas, was sentenced in June to 22 years in prison.