Head of Mexican Drug Trafficking Family Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison

OCT 27 -- SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Anthony D. Williams, announced today that Miguel Ruiz-Bravo, 39, of Apatzingan, Mexico, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. to 23 years and four months in prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. Ruiz-Bravo pleaded guilty on June 24, 2010.

According to court documents in a separate matter, in March 2003, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents discovered an active methamphetamine laboratory in the Tehama County town of Corning. The agents arrested seven individuals and seized approximately 36 pounds of methamphetamine. These individuals were observed traveling in three different vehicles, all of which were registered in the names of aliases used by Miguel Ruiz-Bravo, who was believed to be in Mexico at the time of the arrests. One of the individuals arrested was the defendant’s brother, Alejandro Ruiz-Bravo, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.