Man sentenced to 35 years for drug trafficking

A Wake County man was sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to a drug-trafficking charge, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

Dontez Ruffin, 30, was also ordered to serve five years of supervision probation after his release.

The sentencing in U.S. District Court on Tuesday follows Ruffin’s December 2012 guilty plea to a charge of conspiring to distribute 5 or more kilograms of cocaine, 280 grams of crack cocaine and marijuana, U.S. Attorney Thomas G. Walker said.

An investigation by local and federal authorities determined that Ruffin was a member of a drug-trafficking organization that began operating as early as 2004 in southeast Raleigh.

The group was also responsible for distributing high-grade marijuana. Authorities seized more than 500 pounds of the drug during the investigation.