COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia Department of Corrections inmate has been sentenced for his involvement in a 2019 trafficking case.
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The Coweta County District Attorney’s Office said Rodolfo Ortiz entered a negotiated plea for his participation with the Sureños criminal street gang and his involvement in a trafficking case.
Ortiz was sentenced to a 50-year sentence for 25 years of that sentence to be served in confinement.
The DA said, back in 2019, Ortiz texted an undercover officer with Newnan police looking to distribute meth.. At the time, Ortiz was an inmate at the Georgia Department of Corrections. What is referred to as a “prison broker” deal, Ortiz told the undercover officer that his people would transport illegal drugs to him in exchange for money, officials said.
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Ortiz and the undercover officer spoke several times over the phone and planned for the deal to happen at a restaurant in Coweta County. The DA said, one of Ortiz’s fellow Sureños drove from Gwinnett County to the restaurant to deliver the meth to the undercover officer. After making contact with the undercover officer, Ortiz’s fellow gang member showed three large gallon-sized zip lock bags containing five kilograms of meth, according to the DA.
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That individual along with Mr. Ortiz was later indicted and charged with trafficking methamphetamine and violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
After he was sentenced and back in prison, Ortiz reached out to the undercover officer using a contraband phone expressing his fear of the sentence under the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. He offered to coordinate more drug transactions with the undercover officer in hopes of being sent to a less violent institution, the DA said. That investigation is pending.
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