Mt. Pleasant traffic stop leads to federal conviction

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose sentenced Ismael Salazar Montes, age 30, of Nogales Sonora, Mexico, to 160 months in prison for Illegal Reentry, Possession with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances, and Illegal Immigrant in Possession of Firearm and Ammunition, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Richard D. Westphal.

Following his prison term, Salazar Montes was ordered to serve five years of supervised release and pay $300 to the Crime Victims’ Fund.

The investigation began in October 2019, when law enforcement stopped Salazar Montes’s vehicle in Mt. Pleasant. After stopping the vehicle, law enforcement had a canine conduct a sniff of the vehicle, resulting in an alert as to the presence of narcotics. As officers searched the vehicle, Salazar Montes admitted he had a handgun in his suitcase. Officers searched the suitcase and located an unloaded, nine-millimeter Ruger handgun.

Salazar Montes admitted he did not have a permit for the firearm and knew he could not lawfully possess the firearm because he was not legally present in the United States. A search of the back seat of the vehicle revealed a cooler where officers located three bags of controlled substances — 812.8 grams of methamphetamine, 958.7 grams of heroin, and 307.27 grams of fentanyl.

Salazar Montes admitted he placed the controlled substances in the cooler and was transporting them from Tucson, Ariz., to Chicago.

This matter was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Drug Enforcement Administration, Mt. Pleasant Police Department and the Henry County Sheriff’s Office. This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.