A Weston man received a 137-month federal prison sentence for trafficking methamphetamine. Ryan P. Murray, 45, was sentenced to the roughly 11-year prison term on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson according to a release from the office of Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin. The prison term will be followed by eight years of supervised release.
Murray pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
According to the release, on Jan. 10, 2022, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a one-vehicle crash.
“The driver, Murray, had left the scene of the crash and was found some distance away,” the release stated. “Next to Murray, deputies located a bag that contained 291 grams of methamphetamine.”
Deputies located a loaded Glock 9mm handgun along the path Murray had travelled leaving the crash scene, and within Murray’s crashed vehicle, deputies found a Kel-Tec rifle, 10 loaded extended magazines, and a suppressor, according to the release.
At the time of the incident, Murray had five active arrest warrants and nine open state criminal cases, including four involving possessing a firearm as a felon and another involving substantial battery.
The release said Murray has since been convicted and sentenced in many of his state cases and is currently serving multiple state prison sentences, with an anticipated release date of Feb. 16, 2028.
“As it relates to the firearms involved in this case, Murray was convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon in Lincoln County Circuit Court Case No. 2022CF14 on April 11, 2022, and was sentenced to 180 days in county jail,” the release stated.
Peterson ordered that Murray’s 137-month federal sentence run concurrently to the remainder of his state prison sentences and to any sentences imposed on his still-pending cases.
At sentencing, Judge Peterson noted that the protection of the public was the primary driver of the sentence in this case.
“He highlighted Murray’s nearly unrelenting pattern of criminality for over 25 years and that Murray was a drug dealer who goes heavily armed,” the release stated. “Murray’s history of guns, violence, and drug trafficking represented a clear danger to the community.”
The charge against Murray was the result of an investigation conducted by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven P. Anderson prosecuted the case.