MEN SENT TO PRISON AFTER AREA'S LARGEST DRUG BUST

MADISON - One of two men involved in bringing 3,000 pounds of marijuana to
the La Crosse area during the past five years for shipment to Minnesota was
sentenced in federal court Monday to more than 11 years in prison.

Gale F. Kleman, 51, of Sleepy Eye, Minn., was sentenced Monday to 11 years
and two months, and Ralph M. Villegas, 48, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced
last week to seven years and three months. Villegas also was ordered to
forfeit $500,000 in assets he acquired from the sale of drugs.

The seizure of 650 pounds of marijuana Sept. 4 from a warehouse on North
Star Road in Holmen, Wis., is the largest drug recovery to date by federal
authorities for the Western District of Wisconsin, said U.S. Attorney J.B.
Van Hollen.

After their arrest last year, two drivers working for the Galindo drug
organization in New Mexico began cooperating with U.S. Drug Enforcement
Agency personnel investigating the scope of trafficking operations, said
Villegas' attorney, David Mandell.

The drivers told investigators they were regularly moving large amounts to
Wisconsin, beginning in 1998.

Investigators learned that Villegas was the source of the marijuana, which
he arranged to be delivered to Jeffrey Laufle in La Crosse, said Assistant
U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Altman. Laufle then turned over the marijuana to
Kleman, who distributed it mainly in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

A shipment that did not reach Holmen caused Villegas to go to the La Crosse
area to ensure that the Sept. 4 load arrived at Laufle's warehouse, Mandell
said.

The load actually was flown by DEA staff to Madison and then trucked to
Holmen, where it was met by Laufle, Villegas and Kleman. The three men were
arrested at the warehouse. Agents recovered from Villegas a listing of the
package numbers and a marking pen allegedly used to write the weights on
each bale of marijuana, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Laufle, who has since sold the warehouse and given the proceeds to the
federal government, is expected to be charged in connection with the
trafficking either in state or federal court, Altman said.

Kleman's attorney, Eric Newmark of Minneapolis, sought a sentence for his
client similar to the sentence for Villegas. Newmark noted that Kleman
apparently wasn't as culpable as Villegas since Kleman hadn't accumulated a
comparable amount of assets. Also, Kleman had no prior felony convictions -
just two driving while intoxicated misdemeanors and one misdemeanor theft.

Although Kleman might not the "major player" Villegas was, he still was
found responsible for moving 1,433 kilograms of marijuana, Altman said.

"That's a huge amount of drug he brought into the area and warrants a
substantial sentence," she said.

District Judge John Shabaz said Kleman's two DWI convictions were serious
offenses and prevented Kleman from qualifying for the sentence-reducing
"safety valve" factor, which allows first-time drug offenders to escape
serious penalties.

Mandell also sought leniency for his client, arguing that Villegas even
paid federal taxes on his drug profits, listing them as "other" income on
tax forms. Although he allowed the government to seize his cash, homes,
vehicles and some valuable collections, his drug profit only provided the
"seed money" he used to successfully invest in the stock market and gamble,
Mandell said.