SALT LAKE CITY — A man from Mexico has been sentenced to prison for attempting to distribute more than 38,000 grams, or 50 pounds, of methamphetamine in Utah.
Fermin Castro-Tovar, 26, was sentenced Monday in federal court to eight years in prison plus three years of supervised release. A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah says Castro-Tovar is a “Mexican national” who had been living in the U.S. illegally on an overstayed visa.
“Stopping deadly drugs from being distributed throughout our communities is a priority,” said Felice John Viti, acting U.S. attorney for Utah. “We will continue to work with our state, local and federal partners to dismantle organizations that bring drugs into our country and threaten community safety.”
Castro-Tovar was identified as part of a drug trafficking organization distributing narcotics in the Salt Lake Valley, according to a federal indictment. During an investigation, he distributed approximately 1 pound of methamphetamine to undercover agents in May 2024, court documents say.
Police then seized more than 24,000 grams of methamphetamine at a storage unit associated with Castro-Tovar and an additional 3,400 grams of the drug at his residence.
Three more bags of 4,388 grams, 4,139 grams and 2,890 grams of methamphetamine were discovered at a second apartment associated with him. In total, agents seized 38,838 grams of methamphetamine that Castro-Tovar intended to distribute, according to court documents.
In January, Castro-Tovar pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
“The amount of methamphetamine in this case potentially amounts to hundreds of thousands of doses,” said Mehtab Syed, special agent in charge of FBI Salt Lake City. “Illicit drugs have devastated too many lives in Utah. Public safety is at the forefront of everything we do, and the FBI’s Wasatch Metro Drug Task Force will use every resource available to cut the supply at the highest levels.”
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