Timothy M. O’Shea, the United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Marco Cota-Tamaura has been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison. The sentencing was carried out by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley following Cota-Tamaura's guilty plea on December 2, 2024, for possessing methamphetamine while incarcerated.
Cota-Tamaura, 44, was serving a sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Oxford, Wisconsin when he tested positive for methamphetamine during a drug test on March 22, 2024. Subsequent to this test, prison staff discovered him in possession of the substance. Methamphetamine is strictly prohibited within federal prisons.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Conley expressed his disappointment with Cota-Tamaura’s actions after achieving a reduced security level in his current term at FCI Oxford. He stated that Cota-Tamaura’s possession of methamphetamine posed a significant risk to both inmates and guards, which warranted an additional year being added to his sentence.
The investigation leading to this charge was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation along with the Bureau of Prisons. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Ayala prosecuted the case.