Inmate Sentenced to 50 Years for Meth Trafficking and Gang Ties in Coweta County

38-year-old Rodolfo Ortiz, a Georgia Department of Corrections inmate, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison, with 25 years to be served in confinement, for his involvement in trafficking five kilograms of methamphetamine and his affiliation with the Sureños criminal street gang. The sentence was part of a negotiated plea orchestrated by Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Haynes.

Ortiz, who was incarcerated at the time of the crime, began communicating with an undercover law enforcement officer from the Newnan Police Department in 2019, seeking to arrange a drug transaction. Ortiz, operating through a “prison broker” deal, told the officer that his associates would deliver illegal drugs in exchange for money. The transaction was set to take place at a restaurant in Coweta County, Georgia.

In the course of the investigation, one of Ortiz’s fellow gang members traveled from Gwinnett County to the designated restaurant, where they delivered three large gallon-sized ziplock bags containing the methamphetamine to the undercover officer. Following the exchange, Ortiz and the gang member were indicted by the Coweta Judicial Circuit on charges of Trafficking Methamphetamine and Violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. The indictment was prepared by Chief Assistant District Attorney Jack Winne.

After being sentenced, Ortiz attempted to make contact with the undercover officer once again, using a contraband phone while still incarcerated. He expressed concern about his lengthy sentence under the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act and offered to facilitate additional drug transactions in hopes of being transferred to a less violent institution. That investigation is currently ongoing.