An Austin resident was among six people sentenced in U.S. District Court for convictions stemming from a methamphetamine distribution operation in southern Minnesota.

Mona Lisa Veraza, 38, received 60 months in prison March 28 for conspiring to distribute between 11 pounds and 33 pounds of methamphetamine. She was charged and convicted of a single count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine; she admitted that she was responsible for about two pounds, or 787 grams, of drugs found during a search warrant of her home, according to a press release.

Rochester resident Nicole Angela Davis, 27, was sentenced to 87 months in prison for her role in the operation. The press release said she sold least 11 pounds of methamphetamine, some of which she kept in an Austin storage locker, in exchange for money, vehicles and other items. She pleaded guilty July 18, 2007.

Two Hollandale, Minn., residents — 32-year-old Amy Marie McAlister and 46-year-old Gregory Jon Stout — were also convicted and sentenced for conspiracy to distribute drugs.

Stout, characterized by a defendant as a “significant methamphetamine dealer in and around Hollandale,” received 262 months in prison March 27 for accompanying Albert Lea resident Jenny Lynn Harris and Rochester resident Jayson Lee Hatton to drug-related trip to Arizona Oct. 8, 2006, according to the press release.

The release said the three returned with about 10 pounds of methamphetamine, a portion of which was ultimately seized by authorities. Police recovered about three pounds, or 1,500 grams from the vehicle they drove.

Hatton also admitted that from March 1, 2006, to Dec. 31, 2006, he, Davis, Veraza and others possessed and conspired to distribute a least nine pounds of methamphetamine, the press release stated.

Hatton was sentenced to 32 months in prison; Harris and McAlister received 60 months.

The case resulted from investigations by the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Southeast Minnesota Narcotics Task Force and Austin and Rochester police departments.