California Man Who Distributed Hundreds of Pounds of Meth in Dubuque Sentenced to Federal Prison

A man who distributed hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine to co-conspirators in the Dubuque, Iowa, area, was sentenced today to more than 15 years in federal prison.

Juan Jose Ruiz, age 29, from Visalia, California, received the prison term after an April 24, 2025 guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and 50 grams or more of actual (pure) methamphetamine.

Evidence at sentencing showed that in 2021, Ruiz was responsible for distributing 200 pounds of methamphetamine and 2,000 grams of cocaine to other members of a drug-trafficking organization based in Dubuque, Iowa. In December 2021, Ruiz was driving a car from California to Iowa, when law enforcement stopped him in Colorado. Law enforcement searched his car and, under cutout doors in the metal floor of the car, found 25 pounds of ice methamphetamine.

Ruiz was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Ruiz was sentenced to 188 months' imprisonment and must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline) a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

Ruiz is being held in the United States Marshal's custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Devra T. Hake and investigated by the Dubuque Drug Task Force, Dubuque County Sheriff's Office, Dubuque Police Department, Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Group, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Criminalistics Laboratory.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 23-CR-1006.

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