Rocky Ford Man Sentenced To 20 Years For Drug Distribution, Firearms Crimes

DENVER - The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado announces that Mario Rocha, 27, of Rocky Ford, Colorado, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to three counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and one count of possession of an unregistered firearm.

According to the plea agreement, following a tip from an informant, the FBI began investigating Rocha. Upon obtaining a search warrant for his residence, FBI agents found 4,772 grams of fentanyl (an estimated 47,720 pills), 1,236 grams of methamphetamine, 1,169 grams of cocaine, 17 firearms (including a sawed-off shotgun), and a live pipe bomb.

"I am grateful that this violent criminal will be off the streets of southern Colorado for a long time," said United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Peter McNeilly. "Our office is proud to work with our federal, state, and local partners in every corner of our state to get these violent drug dealers off the streets and into prison where they belong."

"This drug dealer was a menace to everyone he contacted. The FBI worked with the Rocky Ford Police Department to get his illegal weapons and deadly drugs off the streets. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also part of the team that effected the arrest of Rocha during Operation Summer Heat 2025," said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Amanda Koldjeski. "The community is safer now that he will be in federal prison for 20 years."

United States District Judge Philip A. Brimmer presided over the sentencing.

The FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task force handled the investigation in cooperation with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Rocky Ford Police Department.

The Violent Crime Section of the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado handled the prosecution.

Case Number: 25-cr-00265-PAB-01