Rochester man sentenced to 11 years in federal prison on methamphetamine charge

Emily Cutts, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·2 min read

Jun. 24—ST. PAUL — A Rochester man was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to 11 years in prison for his involvement in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Jason Edward Hoffman, 34, pleaded guilty in August 2020, to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. In his role, Hoffman served as "a sub-distributor and provided distribution logistics for methamphetamine, that was supplied to him by co-conspirator John Willis Netherton," according to a news release from U.S. Attorney's Office District of Minnesota. Hoffman also collected funds from the sale of methamphetamine, which he provided, in part, to Netherton.

Hoffman was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson to 132 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

Netherton was sentenced by Nelson in May to 260 months imprisonment followed by eight years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Eleven other charges against him were dismissed.

Jacob Paul Williams was sentenced in August 2020 to 180 months imprisonment and five years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and three other charges were dismissed.

Andrew Robert Berndt was sentenced on June 7 to 102 months imprisonment and five years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Miguel Angel Cuevas Zamora was sentenced in August 2020 to 120 years imprisonment and two years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and three other charges were dismissed.

Four other people have been charged in connection to this case. Joshua Alexander Sazo, Nicholas John Hanson, Deja Lee Benton, and Kayleigh Rea Todd have all pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

Charging documents indicate that the conspiracy began in approximately May 2019 and ended a few months later in August 2019.

Netherton, Sazo and Zamora were arrested in late August 2019 following a traffic stop by the Minnesota State Patrol, which triggered the execution of multiple warrants by the Rochester Police Department's Criminal Interdiction Unit.