KANSAS CITY, Kan. – One of the leaders of a drug trafficking operation that sold methamphetamine in Great Bend, Topeka and Kansas City has been sentenced to life in federal prison without parole, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Monday.

Alfonso Rubio-Ayala, 27, Topeka, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. He entered the plea in November after three days of trial in U.S. District Court in Topeka. In his plea, he admitted he and another man led a drug trafficking organization that distributed methamphetamine from Mexico through Arizona to Great Bend, Topeka and Kansas City in 2008 and 2009.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized more than $690,000 in cash, 10 pounds of methamphetamine, and firearms and vehicles when they served search warrants at drug stash houses that were controlled by the traffickers in all three cities.

During trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Rubio-Ayala was an equal partner with co-defendant Adan Molina in the organization. Rubio-Ayala oversaw the daily distribution of drugs in Kansas City and Topeka.

Co-defendant Molina is set for sentencing Jan. 25.

Grissom commended the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Topeka Police Department, the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office, the Salina I-70/I-35 Task Force, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Barton County Sheriff’s Office, the Great Bend Police Department, the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, the Osage County Sheriff’s Office, Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Hough, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard and Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Hendershot for their work on the case.