A mother has been indicted for allegedly smuggling methamphetamine in a car seat that held her 8-year-old daughter.

Rachel Ruiz, 30, of Kalispell, pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine  on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Billings. If convicted, Ruiz could face up to $10 million in fines and life in prison.

Ruiz is accused of working with another Northwest Montana man in a drug dealing scheme.

According to court documents, Ruiz, Francisco Gutierrez and Timothy Patrick Pine II, 36, of Fortine, were dealing drugs across the state, including Miles City, Missoula and Kalispell.

The alleged dealing took place between January and June this year.

According to a citation originally filed in Missoula County Justice Court, Pine agreed to meet undercover agents working on a multi-agency law enforcement team and sell them a quarter-pound of meth for $6,000.

On May 12, Pine sent officers a text message telling them to meet at Ruby’s Inn in Missoula with a delivery person. The two delivery people working with Pine yelled out to officers, “Motel 6,” and sped off during the delivery. The undercover agents went to the motel and were able to purchase $6,000 worth of meth from Pine.

On June 3, another undercover investigator arranged a $10,000 buy from Ruiz and Gutierrez for a half-pound of meth. Officers stopped the suspected delivery vehicle, occupied by Ruiz and Gutierrez, before it reached the agreed meeting spot.

They observed an 8-year-old child buckled into a toddler’s seat.

Gutierrez (also known as Ronald Moises Gomez) said he was not a U.S. citizen and admitted running drugs for Pine, who went by the drug dealer name “Montana.”

Ruiz, the mother of the child in the car, also allegedly admitted to her part in selling drugs for Pine.

Officers searched the woman’s car and found that one pound of methamphetamine had been screwed into a secret compartment of the car seat in which the 8-year-old had been riding.

Gutierrez has not yet been indicted in federal court. Pine pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges earlier this month.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.