Regional briefs

Share this: Email | Facebook | X

A Reno man was sentenced Monday to 20 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a criminal scheme to hide drug profits.

Efren Rodriguez, 25, made 12 bank deposits totaling $93,500 - but kept all of them below the $10,000 limit where deposits must be reported to the IRS.

Daniel Bogden, U.S. attorney for Nevada, said Rodriguez admitted doing so to hide the deposits, which were the proceeds from the sale of pseudophedrine. Pseudophedrine is classified under federal law as a List I chemical because it is used in manufacturing methamphetamine.

Bogden said Rodriguez admitted the deposits were part of a series of illegal acts involving nearly $500,000 between November 2000 and January 2001.

Victims of plane crash identified

The Mono County Sheriff's Department has released the names of two men killed Monday in a plane crash between Bishop and Mammoth Lakes.

Gregory Ronald Little, 41, a UPS shipper from Highland, Calif.; and Geoffrey Scott Kostiuk, 21, a U.S. Air Force reservist from Perris, Calif., were killed when the 1969 Musketeer Beach Craft they were flying in crashed at 11:30 a.m. at the top of Sherwin Grade, about 20 miles south of Mammoth Lakes.

The elevation of Sherwin Summit is 7,000 feet.

The cause of the crash is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.