Fourth Suspect Sentenced in Ohio Drug Case with Tie’s to Sinaloa Cartel

The final suspect in an Ohio drug trafficking ring with ties to one of Mexico’s most dangerous cartels, is sentenced to 151 months in federal prison.  

37-year-old Ronald Rendon-Luna, a Mexican national living in Painesville, Ohio, was sentenced after pleading guilty to drug trafficking and weapons charges. Rendon-Luna was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release.

Rendon-Luna and three other men were arrested after a long-term investigation conducted by the Cartel, Gangs, Narcotics and Laundering Task Force of the FBI-Cleveland Division. Two of the other individuals arrested had direct connections to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel.

Prosecutors say the group was responsible for distributing approximately 111 kilograms of fentanyl, and approximately 42 kilograms of cocaine during the conspiracy. 

“These criminals used their Mexican Cartel connections to bring millions of doses of fentanyl—each one potentially fatal—into our communities and distribute those poisons across our state,” said U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio. “Those who seek to expand their illegal drug trade to our District should know that we will use all tools available to stop them from endangering our residents’ lives and the safety of our neighborhoods.”

According to documents, the leader of the group was Nefer Ojeda-Elenes of Upland, California, who used a shipping company he owned, to drive the drugs thousands of miles to Ohio in semis. Those drugs were then stored at homes and storage units in the Cleveland area.

In September Ojeda-Elenes was sentenced to 228 months in prison.

Prosecutors say Rendon-Luna also met with another conspirator, Cameron Harris of Dayton, Ohio, who then distributed the drugs in the Dayton area. Harris was sentenced to 151 months in prison.

The fourth co-conspirator, Alexander Briceno-Matheus, 31, of Miami Beach, Florida, met with Rendon-Luna at a local hotel to receive nearly $150,000 in drug money. Briceno-Matheus was sentenced in July to 30 months in prison.

The prosecution was conducted as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative. The task force is made up of agents from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and U.S. Border Patrol (USBP).

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