A Caldwell man who helped sell methamphetamine in the Treasure Valley has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

A jury convicted Rolondo F. Gonzalez, 57, of distributing methamphetamine and conspiring to distribute methamphetamine after a two-day trial in August.

Co-defendant Miguel Beltran Marquez, a Mexican national, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in April to 15 1/2 years in prison, followed by five years probation.

According to court documents, a confidential informant and an undercover officer bought two ounces of methamphetamine from Gonzalez in Caldwell on April 12, 2011.

The next day, Beltran-Marquez called the undercover officer and told him he would have better methamphetamine later that would be more expensive.

A month later, the undercover officer bought an ounce of meth from Beltran-Marques that was 100 percent pure. The first batch was 89 percent pure. A higher purity rate makes meth more potent and more valuable because it can be cut with other products to increase the weight and profit margin. Beltran-Marquez told the officer he thought the first batch was for "a white guy," which was why the quality was lower.

The officer, who wore a body wire, again bought an ounce of 100 percent pure meth from Beltran-Marquez on June 1, 2011. At least five law enforcement officials were monitoring that transaction. Four days later, the officer bought four ounces of 100 percent pure meth from Gonzalez in the parking lot of a Shell gas station in Notus. A grand jury indicted the men in September 2011.

Gonzalez is awaiting transport to federal prison after being sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boise. Beltran-Marquez, 35, is serving his sentence at a low-security federal prison in Southern California.