A Carrollton woman has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for drug trafficking, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
Jessica Marie Ruiz, 43, was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and sentenced to 240 months in prison, according to a DOJ news release.
Federal prosecutors said that in 2021, Ruiz and her husband, Wesley Ruiz, were running a methamphetamine trafficking operation while he was incarcerated for killing a Dallas police officer. Using a contraband cell phone, Wesley Ruiz coordinated with his wife and a Mexico-based supplier to smuggle large quantities of meth across the U.S.-Mexico border in 18-wheeler trucks, officials said.
Authorities said Jessica Ruiz received the shipments in North Texas and stored the drugs at her Carrollton home before distributing them across the country, including into the Texas prison system.
The case was prosecuted as part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide DOJ initiative targeting cartels, transnational crime and prison-based trafficking networks.
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