Three-Time Drug Trafficker Sentenced to More Than 5 Years

Madison, Wis. - Chadwick M. Elgersma, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Rodney L. Roach, 44, Beloit, Wisconsin, was sentenced yesterday by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 71 months in federal prison for distribution of cocaine. Roach pleaded guilty to this charge on January 21, 2026.

Roach distributed what he believed to be heroin to a police informant on four occasions. After the last drug sale, police seized a large amount of suspected heroin/fentanyl and cocaine from his home. Crime laboratory testing revealed that the suspected heroin/fentanyl was in fact Metonitazene. Metonitazene is an extremely dangerous synthetic opioid like fentanyl but with a slightly greater potency.

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Peterson stated that Roach distributed dangerous drugs that harmed his community. He further stated that Roach had two prior drug trafficking convictions and was an elevated risk to reoffend upon release. Judge Peterson ordered six years of supervision to follow Roach's prison term to further protect the community.

The charge against Roach was the result of an investigation conducted by the Beloit Police Department, Rock County Sheriff's Office, and Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven P. Anderson prosecuted this case.

Federal prosecutions by the U.S. Department of Justice involving drugs and guns are part of the U.S. Department of Justice's Operation Take Back America. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).