A man living in Shakopee when police uncovered a liquid meth conversion lab and 30 pounds of the drug at a home he maintained has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison in the latest case linked to Mexican cartel drug trafficking in Minnesota.
Saul Rodriguez Pineda, 40, did not dispute the federal drug distribution charges levied against him in 2022 but testified at a March trial in a failed attempt to mount a duress defense. Rodriguez Pineda claimed that he helped a Mexican cartel distribute meth in Minnesota after a a “powerful member” issued “specific, credible threats of death” to himself and his wife and children.
Court filings say Rodriguez Pineda entered the United States illegally about 15 years ago.
U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank, however, did not allow the St. Paul jury to consider a not-guilty verdict based on coercion. Jurors quickly found Rodriguez Pineda guilty after the three-day trial, and Frank imposed his sentence last week. Frank also imposed five years of post-incarceration supervised release.
Frank’s sentence is below the nearly 20-year term sought by federal prosecutors. Assistant U.S. Attorney Raphael Coburn pointed out before sentencing that the discovery of a lab intended to convert liquid methamphetamine to a solid, crystalline form represented a “rare and significant find by law enforcement.”
“Although the defendant describes a ‘humble’ upbringing in Mexico, nothing about the defendant’s childhood could explain or justify his criminal conduct in this case,” Coburn wrote.
According to court records, law enforcement learned from a confidential informant in summer 2022 that Rodriguez Pineda was selling methamphetamine to her and her romantic partner. The informant, wired with an audio- and video-recording device, later worked with investigators to carry out the three subsequent undercover drug purchases, all at the Shakopee home out of which Rodriguez Pineda operated.
Officers arrested Rodriguez Pineda on Oct. 12, 2022, while searching the home. Among the items found during the raid were two orange coolers buried outside on the property. Between the two, officers tallied more than 30 Ziploc-style bags containing a pound of meth each, about half of which bore the inscription “Diablo.” The investigators also found pots, pans, strainers and coolers with residue that also tested positive for meth. According to court records, forensic scientists at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension later found that the meth seized from the home had a purity greater than 94%.