Meridian woman pleads guilty to conspiring to distribute meth

A Meridian woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office District of Idaho press release.

Maribel Betancourt, 41, of Meridian, will face sentencing on September 29. She could get up to 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine, according to the release.

She was accused of, along with 13 co-defendants, conspiring to distribute meth. She worked with the others to traffic 4.5 kilograms of meth from California to Idaho. One co-defendant, Carmen Gomez-Rangel, 49, of Nampa, is considered a fugitive. Six of her co-defendants — Jose Luis Corrales Cruz, 58, of Ramona, California; Juan Navarrete, 19, of Ontario, Jorge Sandoval, 21, of Placentia, California; Ruby Martinez, 41, of Nampa; Marco Antonio Tinoco, 26, of Ontario and Hernan Arteaga-Solchaga, 23, of Nampa — pleaded guilty already, according to the release.

Four co-defendants — Oscar Adan Jaimez-Munoz, 35, of Placentia, California; Ruben Rangel Perez, 34, of Placentia, California; Rafael Sotero Lopez-Vasquez, 43, of Nampa and Andres Navarrette, Jr., 26, of Ontario are up for change-of-plea hearings in July. Two co-defendants — Francisco Sandoval, 60, of Placentia, California and Horacio Linares, 47, of Anaheim, California — are facing trial on November 16.

This story was originally published July 9, 2015 at 11:56 AM with the headline "Meridian woman pleads guilty to conspiring to distribute meth."