A Deschutes County woman has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison after prosecutors say she pleaded guilty to trafficking large amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl to Oregon for distribution.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Oregon says Krista Vela, 39, will also have five years of supervised release.
Citing court documents, the Department of Justice said the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and Central Oregon Drug Enforcement (CODE) “identified Vela as a key source of supply for a prominent area drug dealer” in November 2020.
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The following month, investigators seized several pieces of luggage being removed from a Sunriver motel room that Vela was renting, DOJ said. That luggage allegedly contained drug packaging materials, a digital scale, a GPS tracking device, 15 kilograms of methamphetamine and 2 kilograms of fentanyl. There was also paperwork with Vela’s name on them.
A federal grand jury indicted Vela in April 2022 with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. She pleaded guilty to both charges in July.
Vela’s sentence will run concurrently with an 84-month federal prison sentence from the District of Montana for a separate drug trafficking conviction.
“Today marks a significant victory in our ongoing fight against the scourge of methamphetamine and fentanyl trafficking. With the successful arrest and conviction of Krista Vela, we have dealt a decisive blow to the criminal networks that seek to spread destruction in the central Oregon community,” said Sergeant Kent van der Kamp of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office in a statement.
