HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – On Jan. 23, a federal jury in Paducah convicted a Hopkinsville man of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, as well as seven counts of money laundering.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, between May 20, 2020 and Jan. 22, 2022, 46-year-old Robert Blaine of Hopkinsville conspired with Roderick Tutt and Jessica Ochoa to possess with the intent to distribute over 50 grams of meth and over 400 grams of fentanyl, said a press release from the U.S Attorney’s Office, Western District of Kentucky.
During that time, Blaine wired money to Ochoa as payment for the drugs and mailed a box containing $36,960 in U.S currency to Ochoa that he obtained from proceeds of illegal drug sales. Blaine also arranged for Tutt to travel to Arizona to pick up fentanyl and meth from Ochoa. Tutt was supposed to bring the drugs back to Blaine in Hopkinsville but was arrested on the way back to Hopkinsville with 2,059 fentanyl pills and approximately eight kilograms of meth.
On July 20, 2023, Tutt and Ochoa pled guilty to conspiring with Blaine to possess with the intent to distribute over 50 grams of methamphetamine and 400 grams of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl. Ochoa also pled guilty to seven counts of money laundering. Tutt and Ochoa are scheduled for sentencing on March 25, 2025, before a United States District Judge for the Western District of Kentucky.
Blaine is scheduled for sentencing on May 5, 2025, and remains in federal custody pending sentencing. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
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