LAKE CHARLES, La. –United StatesAttorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a Texas man pleaded guilty Tuesday to selling methamphetamine in Louisiana and Texas.
Adam Micah Baltutis, 31, of Beaumont, Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen Kay to one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine. The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter. According to the guilty plea, a law enforcement officer conducted a traffic stop January 5, 2016 on a vehicle traveling continually in the passing lane on Interstate 10. The officer conducted a search of the vehicle, and while looking for registration and insurance papers, found a lockbox containing methamphetamine along with two cell phones. One of the cell phones belonged to the defendant. The defendant told law enforcement agents the next day that he had been dealing methamphetamine since December of 2015 and selling it in Orange, Texas, and the Lake Charles area. The Southwest Louisiana Criminalistics Laboratory determined the methamphetamine seized from the car to have an approximate weight of 418 grams.
Baltutis faces five to 40 years in prison, at least four years of supervised release and a $5 million fine. The court set a sentencing date of April 21, 2017.
Homeland Security Investigations and the Calcasieu Parish Combined Anti-Drug Team conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph T. Mickel is prosecuting the case.