Man gets 30 years for meth conspiracy

By Clair Johnson - 06/19/2008

BILLINGS — A Colorado man who supplied an estimated 20 pounds of methamphetamine that was brought to the Billings area will spend 30 years in federal prison.

Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull on Wednesday sentenced Gulmaro Torres Leon, 28, of Aurora, Colo., near the top of the guideline range after holding him responsible for 15 to 20 pounds of meth and for obstructing justice by intimidating a co-defendant.

Torres Leon is young in age, “but he is a seasoned drug dealer,” Cebull said. “This was a huge amount of drugs.” The judge said the sentence will send a message to those who try to intimidate or threaten witnesses. Cebull enhanced the guideline range after finding Torres Leon was a leader in the conspiracy and had obstructed justice.

The drug network ran for about a year beginning in May 2005. Torres Leon supplied co-defendant Kathy Torres Wilson, 24, of North Glen, Colo., with the meth, and she in turn sold to four Billings-area residents for distribution, the government said.

Torres Leon also was dealing drugs in Colorado and got arrested while trying to sell 3.3 kilos of meth, or about 7 pounds, in an undercover investigation, Cebull said. Torres Leon was sentenced last year in that case to five years and five months in prison.

During the sentencing hearing, Wilson testified for the government that Torres Leon made threatening comments to her and offered her family money in an effort to locate her.

Wilson said she twice ended up next to her co-defendant while they were in custody as the case progressed. Seated next to each other during a six-hour flight on a U.S. Marshals Service transport plane, Torres Leon made intimidating comments to her about being a snitch, she said. And when they were placed in holding cells next to each other, Torres Leon told her not to testify against him, she said.

Wilson came to Billings once to collect money from her, she said.

Wilson has pleaded guilty in the case and is to be sentenced next week.

Co-defendants Brandon Mosier, Anna Strever and Michael Sattler all have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for their roles in the conspiracy, while Jason Mosier, who is Brandon Mosier’s brother, was sentenced to seven years and three months. Charges against Jason Mosier’s wife, Tracee Mosier, were dismissed.