By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A Phoenix man who shipped large amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl to a Montana drug ring has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.
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Brian Uriel Lopez-Orozco, 27, pleaded guilty in February to drug conspiracy and distribution charges. Following his prison term, he will spend five years on supervised release.
Federal prosecutors said Lopez-Orozco was a major drug supplier for the Billings, Montana, area, running a trafficking network for two years.
Investigators uncovered the operation while tracking a local drug dealer, Cynthia Pruett, and two of her associates, Aaron Meeks and Shaynee Gibbs.
In November 2022, police in Laurel, Montana, pulled over Meeks and Gibbs, finding 360 grams of fentanyl and more than $12,000 in cash inside their car. Gibbs told officers they were waiting for a mail package containing meth and fentanyl.
Police had already intercepted that package, finding nearly 4 pounds of methamphetamine and 17 fentanyl capsules inside. Meeks admitted to investigators that he regularly picked up drug packages shipped from Arizona.
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In December 2022, police searched a Billings storage unit and a home in nearby Acton, Montana, seizing more meth, fentanyl and cash. Another search during a traffic stop in Broadview, Montana, a month later, turned up a half-pound of fentanyl.
Pruett, Meeks, and Gibbs all eventually pleaded guilty to drug charges.
According to court documents, Meeks used to live in Arizona, where he bought drugs from Lopez-Orozco and worked as his personal mechanic. After Meeks moved to Billings in 2021, Lopez-Orozco reached out to see if anyone in the area could sell drugs for him.
Meeks connected him with Pruett. Lopez-Orozco visited Montana several times and began shipping large quantities of drugs to Pruett once she proved she could sell them.
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