A Nevada man will serve a little more than 7 years in prison after being discovered with 30,000 fentanyl tablets during a traffic stop in southern Utah in 2023.
On October 26, 2023, Utah Highway Patrol troopers conducted a traffic stop with Christopher Gerard Ruiz, 42, in the passenger seat and Rachel Marie Aponas, 34, driving. The DOJ said that there were three youngsters under the age of ten in the backseat.
According to police, Aponas admitted to possessing meth in the automobile. Officers searched and discovered a lunch cooler containing blue M-30 pills, which tested positive for fentanyl.
Ruiz and Aponas were arrested, and the children were taken away by the Department of Children and Family Services.
“Anyone who endangers the safety of children and our communities with poisonous drugs will face the full extent of the law,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah.
Aponas was sentenced to slightly more than two years in prison with credit for time served and three years of supervised release, according to the Department of Justice.
Ruiz pleaded guilty to possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute on March 31, 2025, and was sentenced to slightly more than seven years in prison with three years of supervised release, according to the DOJ.
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