Hill gets 15 years in federal meth case

By RICHARD JENKINS

rjenkins@yourdailyglobe.com

MARQUETTE - Members of the Gogebic-Iron Area Narcotics Team - as well as representatives of the Michigan State Police and Drug Enforcement Administration - held a press conference with Assistant U.S. Attorney Maarten Vermaat in Marquette Thursday to announce the sentences of seven members of an Ironwood-area drug ring that authorities say was responsible for almost all of the crystal methamphetamine supply in the Ironwood-Hurley area.

"The purpose of this press conference is to call attention to a really significant crystal meth investigation conducted primarily by (GIANT)," said Vermaat.

The arrest and sentencing of the seven individuals was not only the largest crystal meth seizure in the history of the Upper Peninsula, it also "effectively shut down crystal meth market in the western end of the Upper Peninsula and the northern part of northwest Wisconsin," Vermaat said.

"It's really a significant case based on the amount of drugs seized and the impact of the case," he added.

The individuals were sentenced as follows.

-Richard Jon Hill, 39, of Ironwood, was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison.

-Joshua Aaron Anderson, 32, of Ironwood, was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison.

-David Anthony Tristan, 46, of Bullhead City, Arizona, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison.

-Anthony Peter Giovanoni, 37, of Hurley, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison.

-Vickie Marie Sporleder, 48, of Rockland, was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison.

-Jack Michael Ribich, 33, of Ironwood, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison.

-Rebecca Jean Suzik, 39, of Ironwood, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison.

Hill - who Vermaat said was also known as "Rock Star Rick" - moved from Ironwood to Las Vegas in 2000, where he became a "heavy" meth user.

According to Vermaat, Hill returned to Ironwood in 2012, but maintained his connections to the Las Vegas drug scene.

Hill began traveling between the two cities to obtain the higher-quality crystal meth, which Vermaat explained was different than the "one-pot meth" that is commonly found throughout the U.P.

Unlike the one-pot meth, crystal meth tends to be a very high quality and can't be produced locally, Vermaat said.

"When he would go to Las Vegas, he would buy crystal meth and ship it back to the Upper Peninsula," Vermaat said. "One of the things he did to reduce his risk, he had friends and associates in the Ironwood area who would receive shipments for him, on his behalf. So he would ship stuff from Las Vegas - it would get sent to Hurley, it would get sent to Rockland, Michigan, it would get sent to places in Ironwood - he would then pick it up, make his distributions, collect his money and then go back for another trip.

"So it was this cycle of buying meth, bringing it back to the Upper Peninsula, and selling it. And that got a number of different people addicted and it basically spread crystal meth throughout that whole area. So you have a whole number of people who became addicted to crystal meth, primarily because of his activities. He's the person who started it, he's the person who kept it going."

Vermaat said this pipeline to the Gogebic Range began in 2013 and lasted through the spring of 2014, when GIANT executed a search warrant on Hill's Ironwood home on March 6, 2014.

"(GIANT) started investigating 'Rockstar Rick,' they figured out he was selling crystal meth in the area and they started focusing on him," Vermaat said.

The search found over 400 grams of crystal meth, Vermaat said, and seized around $20,000 in cash.

A purity analysis conducted by a DEA lab found the seized meth was 99.9 percent pure, which Vermaat said was a purity that was "really unusual."

Given that meth is usually sold in quarter- and half-grams, the amount seized during the execution of the search warrant has an estimated street value of $40,000, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Telephones, computers and other electronic storage media seized during the raid were analyzed by the Michigan State Police computer forensic unit, which launched a larger investigation into the conspiracy to distribute meth and led to the involvement of the DEA and the elevation of the case to the federal level.

Tracing the communication and travel history contained in the seized electronics led authorities to the other members of the ring, according to Vermaat. This included Tristan who, Vermaat said, was the Las Vegas supplier.

"This case had ties to really significant drug dealers in Las Vegas, in Los Angeles and also in the U.P," Vermaat said.

Charges were brought against the ring over the next year and a half, Vermaat said, with sentences being handed down throughout this year with the last individual sentenced Wednesday.

Vermaat credited the sentences to the work of the members of GIANT - a multi-jurisdictional drug enforcement team comprised of representatives from the Ironwood Public Safety Department, Gogebic County Sheriff's Department, Hurley Police Department and Iron County Sheriff's Department, as well as the cooperation between the local, state and federal agencies.

"This was primarily a GIANT-DEA partnership," Vermaat said.

IPSD officer Matt Sterbenz, who was one of the lead investigators for GIANT, said investigations such as this wouldn't be possible without coordination such as the GIANT effort.

"It's not practical for one agency, on their own, to work an investigation like that," Sterbenz said. "If you are going to truly get the most out of your investigation, you have to come together and work together. So by sharing information - because our area is kind of crammed in together - by sharing information together we can start linking different people together and that's where we got the best outcome for this case.

"Even though we have a good overall impact in our area, obviously we're limited in what we can do. So by working together with other agencies ... whether it be Michigan State Police or DEA, they have the capabilities to take it up to the next step."

Both Sterbenz and Vermaat said while there is still the occasional incident with crystal meth, the supply had largely been dried up since the arrests, specifically in the Ironwood and Hurley area, but also in the U.P., in general.

Following the press conference, Sterbenz told the Daily Globe the investigation became focused on Hill after connecting a number of the team's narcotics investigations.

"You talk with a lot of people, you end up getting tidbits from people that you can tie together (about) knowing this person gets their controlled substances from this person and you just kind of work it up the chain," Sterbenz said. "You can tell by who they are getting it from, and the quantity of what they are getting, how far up the food chain they are."

The team also conducted several undercover drug buys that led to the evidence necessary to obtain the warrant.

All defendants took plea deals, Vermaat said.

He attributed this to the extremely strong case given to him by GIANT and the other agencies.

"This was a great case. If this had gone to trial, it would have been a fun case to try because I had lots of drugs, lots of money, great phone records, great text messages. This was going to be a solid, solid trial," Vermaat said. "(The investigators) gave me great evidence. My job gets way easier when they do a good investigation."

Hill originally faced one charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess meth with intent to distribute, two counts of distribution of meth and one charge of possession of meth with intent to distribute. He pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge.

Anderson faced one county of conspiracy to distribute and possess meth with intent to distribute and two counts of distribution of meth. The two distribution counts were dropped as part of the plea deal.

Tristan, Giovanoni, Sporleder and Ribich pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess meth with intent to distribute. Ribich also pleaded guilty to witness harassment after he contacted witnesses mentioned in police reports he obtained from his defense attorney and that were turned over as part of the normal discovery process.

Rebecca Suzik pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, which was downgraded from her original conspiracy charge. Vermaat explained this charge basically meant she was aware of felony being committed and took steps to cover it up, rather than reporting it.

He also explained that even though charges were dropped for several of the defendants, they still factored into the sentences.

"The way sentencing works in federal court - state court, they do what they call charge sentencing so like if you do four (breaking and enterings) and you plead to one, it's like the other three didn't exist - for us, the federal courts use what is called real offense sentencing. What that means is, when you plead guilty to a drug charge, they look at all the relevant (or related) conduct and they sentence you on the full scope anyway," he said.

Vermaat said the potential maximum sentences ranged from 36 months for Suzik's misprision of a felony charge to a potential life sentence for Hill if the plea agreements hadn't been reached.