Following a three-day trial that concluded Thursday, a federal jury convicted a Hopkinsville man of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, as well as seven counts of money laundering.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between May 20, 2020, and January 22, 2022, Robert Blaine, 46, of Hopkinsville, conspired with Roderick Tutt and Jessica Ochoa to possess with the intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine and more than 400 grams of a fentanyl mixture.
During this time frame, Blaine also wired money to Ochoa as payment for the drugs — furthering the overall conspiracy.
Blaine also mailed a box containing more than $36,000 to Ochoa — money that he received in the sale of illegal drugs.
Then, on January 21, 2022, Blaine arranged for Tutt to travel to Arizona to pick up fentanyl and methamphetamine from Ochoa.
Tutt was supposed to bring the drugs back to Blaine in Hopkinsville, but he was arrested on the way back to Kentucky — and in his possession had more than 2,000 fentanyl pills and more than eight kilograms of methamphetamine.
Blaine, meanwhile, has numerous prior drug trafficking convictions.
On July 20, 2023, Tutt, 36, and also of Hopkinsville, as well as Ochoa, a 40-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona, pleaded guilty to conspiring with Blaine. Ochoa also pleaded guilty to seven counts of money laundering, and the two are presently scheduled for sentencing March 25, in the United States Western District of Kentucky.
Blaine is scheduled for sentencing on May 5, and remains in federal custody. He could be facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
There is no parole in the federal system.
Western District of Kentucky Attorney Michael A. Bennett, DEA Louisville Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jim Scott, U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Lesley Allison, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations Special Agent in Charge Karen Wingerd, ATF Special Agent in Charge Shawn Morrow and Hopkinsville Police Chief Jason Newby made this announcement.
