A Hickory auto repair business was at the center of a drug trafficking investigation that has resulted in a 20-year federal prison sentence. 48-year-old Ronald Corrales-Arrieta, who operated the business, was sentenced for distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release.

According to federal prosecutors, investigators first became aware of the operation in April 2023, when Hickory Police found a missing man dead inside Corrales-Arrieta’s business. Hundreds of grams of fentanyl were found around the man’s body.

Investigators later used a confidential informant to make several drug purchases from the organization. Prosecutors say Corrales-Arrieta personally made many of the sales.

Corrales-Arrieta was arrested in October 2024. A search of the Hickory business turned up two firearms — an AR-15 rifle and a 9-millimeter handgun. Corrales-Arrieta remains in federal custody and will be transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security and the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.