Rogers man guilty on federal drug charges

A 40-year-old Rogers man who authorities said they suspected was dealing large amounts of methamphetamine was found guilty Tuesday of federal drug charges after a two-day trial.

U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge said in a statement that Juan Valenzuela was found guilty of four counts tied to the distribution or possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The statement said investigators believed Valenzuela "was selling large quantities" of the drug when they searched his home in May and found about 41 grams of meth. Marijuana, plastic baggies and a paper that "appeared to be a ledger for drug debt owed to him" was also recovered, the statement added.

"Children in Benton County and across the Western District of Arkansas deserve to grow up in communities free from illegal drug trafficking and the violence and other crime that comes with it," Eldridge said in the statement.

Valenzuela faces up to life in prison and $11 million in fines when he is sentenced at a later date, though the statement noted that the imposed penalty often falls beneath the maximum range.

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