May 6--EL PASO -- A federal judge has sentenced a 38-year-old man with ties to the Sinaloa drug cartel to more than 24 years in prison for leading a major drug ring based in El Paso.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Frank Montalvo sentenced Rodrigo Rodney Eckenroth to serve 240 months for money laundering, 60 months for tax evasion and 240 months for drug trafficking. The sentences will be served concurrently.

Montalvo also ordered Eckenroth to pay a $100,000 fine plus $208,046 in restitution to the IRS, and forfeit $1.7 million in assets to the federal government.

DEA agents arrested Eckenroth and seven other people in May 2009 for allegedly smuggling more than 25,000 pounds of marijuana from El Paso to other parts of the country between 2007 and 2008.

Among those arrested with Eckenroth were brothers Luis and Jeorge Rivera, Josefina Ornelas-Murguia, Liliana Ornelas-Rodriguez, Mario Alberto Munoz Jr., Uriel Herrera-Gallegos and Joel Osvaldo Ramirez-Nunez.

Federal prosecutors also accused the group, which they dubbed the Eckenroth Ring, of laundering proceeds from the drug sales and hiding them from the IRS.

"When the IRS gets involved in drug and money-laundering investigations, the drug dealer's profits go up in smoke," said Special Agent Mike Lemoine, a spokesman for the IRS in San Antonio.

During Eckenroth's arrest, federal and local law enforcement officials seized several bank accounts, which were allegedly used for the drug ring's money laundering, along

with 24 vehicles, three homes, two commercial properties, several tons of marijuana and $334,000, DEA agents said at the time of Eckenroth's arrest.

In January, Luis Rivera pleaded guilty to a money-laundering charge, while Jeorge Rivera pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Both are scheduled to be sentenced May 17.

Ornelas-Murguia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana. She was sentenced to 46 months in prison.

Ramirez-Nunez pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to 70 months in prison.

Munoz and Ornelas-Rodriguez pleaded guilty to selling, distributing or dispensing marijuana. Munoz was sentenced to five years of probation, while Ornelas-Rodriguez was sentenced to time served and three years of supervised release.

Charges against Herrera-Gallegos have been dismissed.

Adriana M. Chavez may be reached at achavez@elpasotimes.com;546-6117.

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