MARQUETTE, Mich. – An Ironwood, Michigan man known as “Rock Star Rick” was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for running a crystal meth operation with ties to Las Vegas.
Richard Jon Hill, 39, moved from Ironwood to Las Vegas in 2000 and became heavily involved with meth, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Grand Rapids. He moved back to Ironwood in 2012 and kept up his contacts in Las Vegas. According to a press release, Hill kept traveling back to Las Vegas to pick up meth, use a portion of it, and sell some of it in Ironwood and the Upper Peninsula. He also organized friends and associates to assist in the trafficking of the meth back to the U.P., causing what the U.S. Attorney called a “methamphetamine epidemic across the Western Upper Peninsula.”
When Hill was arrested in 2013, he was found to have more than 400 grams of 99.9% pure crystal meth valued at $40,000. The whole operation was valued at over $200,000.
Six others have also been sentenced in the ring, including four people from the U.P., one from Hurley, Wisconsin and another in Bullhead City, Arizona.
