Federal Prison Sentence for Riverside Man’s Meth-Trafficking in Montana
RIVERSIDE – A recent interstate meth-trafficking case, part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s initiative – Project Safe Neighborhoods – showcases the alarming uptick in violent crime. Statistics reported in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports pinpointed a 6-year increase of violent crime in Montana by 48% from 2013 to 2019.
This long-haul criminal event, orchestrated by a Riverside man, was trafficked to Billings, Montana in 2019. Court documents allege that the government learned of the goings-on when law enforcement agents became aware of a methamphetamine shipment in transit from Mexico to Billings, Montana.
A vehicle pulling into a Billings hotel was picked up by law enforcement surveillance, with California license plates registered to Christopher Santillanes Ceja (31), of Riverside, California. That same evening, law-enforcement officers conducted a traffic stop on the car driven by the known meth-trafficker.
With warrant in-hand, agents searched throughout the impounded vehicle – which revealed 19 bundles of meth. In total, the seized 17.6 lbs (8 kilograms) of pure meth is the equivalent of 63,782 doses.
FBI’s Western Transnational Organized Crime Task Force and the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori H. Suek was Prosecutor.
On March 8, 2021, Ceja pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute meth. U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.
Acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson recently announced, “Ceja was sentenced today in Billings, Montana to six years and six months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release.”
