District of New Mexico

A federal grand jury in Albuquerque, new Mexico returned an indictment yesterday charging Robert Arellano, 63, of Albuquerque, with 13 counts of violating the animal fighting prohibitions of the federal Animal Welfare Act, announced Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney for the District of New Mexico, and Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Arellano had previously been arrested and indicted on additional charges in the District of New Jersey pertaining to his alleged involvement in a multi-state dog fighting network. Those charges alleged criminal acts related to transporting, delivering, buying, selling, and receiving pit bull-type dogs for dog fighting ventures and conspiring to commit these acts in New Jersey and elsewhere throughout the U.S.

The charges returned today in the District of New Mexico pertain to fighting dogs allegedly kept by Arellano at his residence in Albuquerque. Those dogs were seized by federal authorities when Arellano was arrested last June.

This case is part of Operation Grand Champion, a coordinated effort across numerous federal judicial districts to combat organized dog fighting. The phrase “Grand Champion” is used by dog fighters to refer to a dog with more than five dog-fighting “victories.” To date, 85 dogs have been rescued as part of Operation Grand Champion, and either surrendered or forfeited to the government.

The federal Animal Welfare Act makes it a felony punishable by up to five years in prison to knowingly sell, buy, possess, train, transport, deliver, or receive any animal, including dogs, for purposes of having the animal participate in an animal fighting venture. Under federal law, an animal fighting venture means “any event, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, that involves a fight conducted or to be conducted between at least two animals for purposes of sport, wagering, or entertainment.”

This part of Operation Grand Champion was investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Dax Roberson; and under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Terry Wade of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division, in coordination with the Department of Justice.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Letitia Simms and Paul Mysliwiec of the District of New Mexico, and Trial Attorney Ethan Eddy of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division. The Humane Society of the U.S. assisted with the care of the dogs seized by federal law enforcement.

An indictment is an allegation based upon a finding of probable cause by a grand jury. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until convicted.

If convicted, the defendant faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine per count of animal fighting charges. The investigation is ongoing.

 

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal grand jury in Albuquerque, N.M., returned an indictment yesterday afternoon charging Albuquerque resident Robert Arellano, 63, with 13 counts of violating the animal fighting prohibitions of the federal Animal Welfare Act, announced James D. Tierney, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Jeffrey H. Wood, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

 

Arellano had previously been arrested and indicted on additional charges in the District of New Jersey pertaining to his alleged involvement in a multi-state dog fighting network. Those charges alleged criminal acts related to transporting, delivering, buying, selling, and receiving pit bull-type dogs for dog fighting ventures and conspiring to commit these acts in New Jersey and elsewhere throughout the United States.

 

The charges returned yesterday in the District of New Mexico pertain to fighting dogs allegedly kept by Arellano at his residence in Albuquerque. Those dogs were seized by federal authorities when Arellano was arrested last June.

 

This case is part of Operation Grand Champion, a coordinated effort across numerous federal judicial districts to combat organized dog fighting. The phrase “Grand Champion” is used by dog fighters to refer to a dog with more than five dog-fighting “victories.” To date, 85 dogs have been rescued as part of Operation Grand Champion, and either surrendered or forfeited to the government.

 

The federal Animal Welfare Act makes it a felony punishable by up to five years in prison to knowingly sell, buy, possess, train, transport, deliver, or receive any animal, including dogs, for purposes of having the animal participate in an animal fighting venture. Under federal law, an animal fighting venture means “any event, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, that involves a fight conducted or to be conducted between at least two animals for purposes of sport, wagering, or entertainment.”

 

This part of Operation Grand Champion was investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Dax Roberson; and the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Terry Wade of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division, in coordination with the Department of Justice.

 

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Letitia Simms and Paul Mysliwiec of the District of New Mexico, and Trial Attorney Ethan Eddy of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division. The Humane Society of the United States assisted with the care of the dogs seized by federal law enforcement.

 

An indictment is an allegation based upon a finding of probable cause by a grand jury. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until convicted.

 

If convicted, the defendant faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine per count of animal fighting charges. The investigation is ongoing.

 

Arellano Indictment

ALBUQUERQUE – Earl Adams, 53, and enrolled member of the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo who resides in Santa Fe, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to a kidnapping charge. The plea agreement recommends that Adams be sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

 

Adams was arrested on March 2, 2017, on an indictment charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury and kidnapping. According to the indictment, Adams committed the offenses on March 1 and 2, 2016, on the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in Rio Arriba County, N.M.

 

During today’s proceedings, Adams pled guilty to the kidnapping charge. In entering the guilty plea, Adams admitted seizing and confining the victim in a residence on March 1, 2016, because the victim refused to take him to the store to purchase alcohol. Adams assaulted the victim by punching and kicking her, dragging her around the residence by her hair, and binding her hands and feet with zip ties. As a result of the assault, the victim suffered a black eye, a nasal fracture and a forearm fracture, both of which required surgery, injuries the hand and wrist, which required physical therapy, and loose front teeth. Adams admitted that he did not release the victim until March 2, 2016, when police arrived at the residence.

 

Adams remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

 

This case was investigated by the Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and the Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Police Department. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lucy Solimon is prosecuting the case as part of the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico, which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native American women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.

ALBUQUERQUE – Benjamin David Romero, 38, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 60 months in prison for his conviction on methamphetamine trafficking charges. Romero will be on supervised release for four years after completing his prison sentence.

 

Romero and co-defendant Roque Henry Atencio, 42, also of Las Cruces, were arrested on Feb. 6, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging them with methamphetamine trafficking offenses. According to the complaint, Romero and Atencio sold two bags containing an aggregate of 47.35 grams of pure methamphetamine to undercover law enforcement agents in Doña Ana County, N.M., on April 2, 2015.

 

Romero and Atencio were indicted on April 21, 2016, and were charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and distributing methamphetamine on April 2, 2015. The indictment included forfeiture allegations requiring Romero and Atencio to forfeit $2,000 to the United States.

 

During today’s sentencing hearing, Romero entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In entering the guilty plea, Romero pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on April 2, 2015, he provided approximately 47.35 grams of pure methamphetamine to Atencio, which Atencio subsequently sold to an individual working with law enforcement.

 

Atencio entered a guilty plea on Oct. 5, 2016, without the benefit of a plea agreement. At sentencing, Atencio faces a statutory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of 40 years in prison. Atencio remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which is currently scheduled for May 22, 2017.

 

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of Homeland Security Investigations and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Saltman of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

ALBUQUERQUE – Michael Ryan Prost, 36, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court to a methamphetamine trafficking charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

 

Prost and co-defendant Mike Jensen, 33, were arrested during an ATF-led investigation that resulted in the filing of 59 federal indictments and a federal criminal complaint charging 104 Bernalillo County residents with federal firearms and narcotics trafficking offenses. The investigation began in mid-April 2016, when ATF personnel from throughout the country joined forces with federal, state, county and local law enforcement agencies in New Mexico to combat the high rate of violent crime in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. The investigators utilized a number of investigative techniques, including undercover operations, historical investigation and targeting of multi-convicted felons in possession of firearms.

 

The investigation was undertaken in support of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies collaborate with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution primarily based on their prior criminal convictions with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

 

Jensen was arrested in July 2016, on an indictment charging him with methamphetamine trafficking and firearms charges. The indictment subsequently was superseded on Aug. 9, 2016, to include Prost. The superseding indictment charged Jensen and Prost with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine from May 9, 2016 through May 25, 2016, and distributing methamphetamine on May 9, 2016. Jensen was charged individually with possession of a stolen firearm and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime on May 9, 2016, and distributing methamphetamine on May 25, 2016.

 

Today, Prost pled guilty to distributing approximately 57 grams of methamphetamine to Jensen on May 9, 2016, so that he could sell the methamphetamine to others. Jensen previously entered a guilty plea. At sentencing, Prost faces a statutory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

 

To date, 48 of the 104 defendants have entered guilty pleas, and 18, including Jensen, have been sentenced. The remaining defendants have entered not guilty pleas. Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of ATF. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Han is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal jury sitting in Albuquerque, N.M., returned a verdict on Friday night finding Albuquerque residents Fidal Abdeljawad, 49, and Ashley Watson, 31, guilty on synthetic cannabinoids trafficking charges after a five-day trial. Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney and Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of the DEA’s El Paso Division announced the guilty verdict.

 

Abdeljawad and Watson were charged with trafficking in synthetic cannabinoids, more commonly known as “spice,” in an indictment that was filed in Sept. 22, 2015, and superseded in Dec. 2015. The four-count superseding indictment charged Abdeljawad and Watson with participating in a “spice” trafficking conspiracy from March 2014 through Feb. 2015. It also charged the defendants with possessing “spice” with intent to distribute on May 8, 2014, and Feb. 19, 2015, and Abdeljawad alone with possessing “spice” with intent to distribute on May 7, 2014. According to the superseding indictment, Abdeljawad and Watson committed the crimes in Bernalillo County, N.M.

 

The trial of Abdeljawad and Watson began on May 1, 2017, and concluded at approximately 8:00 p.m. on May 5, 2017, when the jury returned a guilty verdict against Abdeljawad and Watson on all four counts of the superseding indictment.

 

Testimony at trial established that the DEA initiated an investigation into “spice” trafficking in Albuquerque in 2014, after receiving information that Abdeljawad, the owner of “Sean’s Smoke Shop” on Central Avenue SE in Albuquerque, and others were distributing “spice.” Law enforcement officers testified that on May 7, 2014, they executed a search at “Sean’s Smoke Shop” and Abdeljawad’s van, and seized more than 100 packets of “spice” and bundles of cash totaling more than $10,000. Abdeljawad was arrested that day on state charges and later was released on bond. The next day, the DEA learned that Abdeljawad had a storage unit near “Sean’s Smoke Shop,” which was leased out in Watson’s name. During a search of the storage unit, the DEA seized more than 500 additional packets of “spice.”

 

Other evidence at trial, including the testimony of witnesses and telephone conversations and text messages captured through court-authorized wire-taps, established that despite his arrest on state charges, Abdeljawad continued to distribute “spice” in collaboration with Watson. Abdeljawad would order shipments of “spice” from suppliers, who delivered the “spice” to Watson and she coordinated the distribution of “spice” to others in exchange for money. On Feb. 19, 2015, the DEA intercepted a package that was in the process of being shipped to Watson. The DEA opened the package after obtaining a search warrant for it, and found that it contained 100 packets of “spice.” Abdeljawad and Watson were arrested in Sept. 2015, after they were indicted.

 

The jury deliberated approximately four hours before returning its guilty verdict.

 

Abdeljawad and Watson were remanded into custody after the verdict was returned and will remain detained pending their sentencing hearings, which have yet to be scheduled. At sentencing, Abdeljawad and Watson each face a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

 

This case, which was investigated by the Albuquerque office of DEA, was designated as part of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, a nationwide Department of Justice program that combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy S. Vasquez and Kristopher N. Houghton are prosecuting the case.

 

The controlled substance analogues charged in the indictment are commonly referred to as synthetic cannabinoids or “spice.” According to the DEA, over the past several years, there has been a growing use of synthetic cannabinoids. Smoke-able herbal blends marketed as being “legal” and providing a marijuana-like high have become increasingly popular because they are easily available and, in many cases, more potent and dangerous than marijuana. These products consist of plant material that has been coated with dangerous psychoactive compounds that mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. These substances, however, have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for human consumption, and there is no oversight of the manufacturing process. Synthetic cannabinoids often are labeled as incense to mask their intended purpose.

ALBUQUERQUE – Joseph Sena, 40, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty Friday, May 5, 2017, in federal court to a methamphetamine trafficking charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

 

Sena and co-defendants Felix Ulibarri, 39, Leo Lopez, 27, and Jennifer Padilla, 39, were arrested during an ATF-led investigation that resulted in the filing of 59 federal indictments and a federal criminal complaint charging 104 Bernalillo County residents with federal firearms and narcotics trafficking offenses. The investigation began in mid-April 2016, when ATF personnel from throughout the country joined forces with federal, state, county and local law enforcement agencies in New Mexico to combat the high rate of violent crime in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. The investigators utilized a number of investigative techniques, including undercover operations, historical investigation and targeting of multi-convicted felons in possession of firearms.

 

The investigation was undertaken in support of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies collaborate with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution primarily based on their prior criminal convictions with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

 

Ulibarri was indicted on July 28, 2016, and was charged with distributing methamphetamine on July 11, 2016. The indictment subsequently was superseded on Aug. 9, 2016, to add Lopez, Sena and Padilla. The superseding indictment charged Ulibarri and Padilla with participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in July 2016; Lopez, Sena and Padilla with participating in a different conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in July 2016; Ulibarri with distributing methamphetamine on July 11, 2016; and Sena with distributing methamphetamine on July 26, 2016. According to the indictment, the defendants committed the crimes in Bernalillo County.

 

On May 5, 2017, Sena pled guilty to Count 4 of the superseding indictment charging him with distribution of methamphetamine. In entering the guilty plea, Sena admitted that on July 26, 2016, he sold approximately 58 grams of methamphetamine in exchange for money. At sentencing, Sena faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

 

To date, 47 of the 104 defendants including Lopez have entered guilty pleas, and 18 have been sentenced. The remaining defendants, including Ulibarri and Padilla, have entered not guilty pleas. Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

 

These cases were investigated by the Albuquerque office of ATF. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Han.

ALBUQUERQUE – Richard Martinez, 38, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Ojo Encino, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to federal child abuse charges. The plea agreement recommends that Martinez be sentenced to five years of imprisonment followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

 

Martinez was arrested in Aug. 2016, on an indictment charging him with two counts of child abuse resulting in great bodily harm on Dec. 24, 2014, on the Navajo Indian Reservation in McKinley County, N.M.

 

During today’s proceedings, Martinez pled guilty to an information charging him with two counts of assault resulting in substantial bodily injury. In entering the guilty plea, Martinez admitted that on Dec. 24, 2014, he assaulted the victim who was under the age of 16 years by twisting and pulling the victim’s left leg and left arm causing the victim to suffer fractures to his shoulder and left leg. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Mease and Nicholas J. Marshall.

ALBUQUERQUE – Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney and Special Agent in Charge Waldemar Rodriguez of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, Texas, announced federal charges against two Mexican nationals for allegedly operating a counterfeit airbag business out of their residence in Albuquerque, N.M. Dina Gonzalez-Marquez, 23, and Emilio Gonzalez-Marquez, 21, both of whom are illegally present in the United States, were arrested yesterday and made their initial appearances today in federal court on a three-count indictment charging them with trafficking in counterfeit goods.

 

The indictment charges the siblings with conspiring to traffic in counterfeit goods and two counts of trafficking in counterfeit goods. According to the indictment, Dina Gonzalez-Marquez and Emilio Gonzalez-Marquez conspired to traffic in counterfeit goods from Jan. 2015 to March 2017, by operating a business that sold counterfeit airbag modules and airbag covers out of their Albuquerque residence. They allegedly facilitated the conspiracy by listing and selling counterfeit airbag modules and airbag covers online, shipping the counterfeit goods to purchasers, and conducting in person sales of the counterfeit goods. The indictment alleges that undercover HSI Special Agents purchased counterfeit goods from the defendants on two occasions. Specifically it alleges that one Special Agent purchased a counterfeit airbag from the defendants in Aug. 2016, and another Special Agent purchased a counterfeit airbag cover from them in March 1, 2017.

 

Dina Gonzalez-Marquez and Emilio Gonzalez-Marquez remain in federal custody pending arraignment and detention hearings, which are scheduled for May 5, 2017.

 

If convicted on the charges in the indictment, Dina Gonzalez-Marquez and Emilio Gonzalez-Marquez each face a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a maximum fine of $2 million. Charges in indictments are merely accusations, and all criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of HSI, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon L. Fyffe and Nicholas Jon Ganjei.

ALBUQUERQUE – Edward Kriglstein, 50, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced this morning in federal court to 120 months in prison for a methamphetamine trafficking conviction. Kriglstein will be on supervised release for eight years following his prison sentence.

 

Kriglstein was arrested in Feb. 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on Feb. 8, 2016, in Bernalillo County, N.M. According to the complaint, on that day, law enforcement officers executed an arrest warrant on Kriglstein and seized approximately 153.5 gross grams of methamphetamine, marijuana, cash and drug paraphernalia from him incident to his arrest. Kriglstein was indicted on the same charge on Feb. 24, 2016.

 

On Dec. 16, 2016, Kriglstein pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on Feb. 8, 2016, law enforcement seized approximately 107.4 grams of pure methamphetamine from him when they arrested him on an outstanding arrest warrant relating to a prior criminal conviction.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander M. Uballez prosecuted the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Jeffrey Burlingame, 59, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 84 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for violating the federal firearms and drug trafficking laws.

 

Burlingame was arrested in Feb. 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. The complaint alleged that Burlingame committed the crime on Feb. 24, 2016, in Bernalillo County, N.M. According to the complaint, on that day, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at the Albuquerque residence of another person. The agents seized methamphetamine, cash, firearms, ammunition and drug paraphernalia from Burlingame, who was present at the time the search warrant was executed.

 

Burlingame was indicted on March 23, 2016, and was charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime on Feb. 24, 2016, in Bernalillo County.

 

On Nov. 28, 2016, Burlingame pled guilty to carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Burlingame admitted that on Feb. 24, 2016, he was in possession of 450.55 grams of pure methamphetamine and a firearm and ammunition when law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at a residence in Albuquerque.

 

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander M. Uballez prosecuted the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Derek I. Hunt, 28, of Santa Fe, N.M., pled guilty yesterday in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass and criminal damage to property. Hunt’s plea agreement includes a recommendation that Hunt be sentenced to a one-year term of probation, including 120 days in a halfway house.

 

Hunt was charged in a criminal complaint on Feb. 8, 2017, with misdemeanor criminal trespass and criminal damage to property. The complaint alleged that in Aug. 2016, the Pojoaque Pueblo Governor banished Hunt, a non-Indian, from entering Pojoaque Tribal Lands. According to the complaint, Hunt reentered Pojoaque Pueblo on two occasions between Aug. 2016 and Jan. 2017, in violation of the Pueblo’s banishment resolution. The complaint also alleged that on Jan. 12, 2017, Hunt damaged a vehicle belonging to a Pojoaque Pueblo woman.

 

During yesterday’s proceedings, Hunt pled guilty to a misdemeanor information charging him with criminal trespass and criminal damage to property. In entering the guilty plea, Hunt admitted that although the Pueblo of Pojoaque served him with an Order of Exclusion in Aug. 2016, he reentered the Pueblo on Jan. 5, 2017 and several times prior to Jan. 5, 2017, in violation of the Pueblo’s Tribal Order. Hunt further admitted that on Jan. 5, 2017, he used a rock to damage the windshield of a vehicle on the Pojoaque Pueblo. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

 

This case was investigated by the Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and the Pojoaque Pueblo Tribal Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisa Dimas.

ALBUQUERQUE – Shane Johnston, 41, of Aztec, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

 

Johnston was arrested in April 2016, on an indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition on Sept. 1, 2015, in San Juan County, N.M. According to the indictment, Johnston previously had been convicted of several felony offenses including possession of a controlled substance, receiving stolen property, possession of a firearm or destructive device by a felon, burglary of an automobile and distribution of methamphetamine.

 

During today’s proceedings, Johnston pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on Sept. 1, 2015, he was in possession of a firearm and ammunition and was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his status as a convicted felon. At sentencing, Johnston faces a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison. If the Court determines that Johnston is an armed career criminal, Johnston faces an enhanced sentence of a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment.

 

This case was investigated by the ATF and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel A. Hurtado as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders primarily based on their prior convictions for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

ALBUQUERQUE – Pilar Angel Lucero, 33, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty today to violating federal firearms laws. The plea agreement included the recommendation that Lucero be sentenced to 48 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

 

Lucero was charged by criminal complaint on July 7, 2016, with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition on June 16, 2016, in Bernalillo County, N.M., following a routine traffic stop by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). subsequently was indicted on the same charge on July 28, 2016. According to the indictment, was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his previous felony convictions for shooting at a dwelling, shooting at or from a motor vehicle, drug trafficking, child abandonment/abuse, conspiracy to traffic in controlled substances, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and conspiracy to commit burglary of a house.

 

During today’s proceedings, Lucero pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on June 16, 2016, APD officers found a handgun with 11 rounds of ammunition in Lucero’s vehicle during a traffic stop. Lucero further admitted purchasing the handgun by using a fake New Mexico driver’s license, and while knowing that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his status as a convicted felon. Lucero remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI and the APD. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer M. Rozzoni is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – This morning a U.S. Magistrate Judge sitting in Albuquerque, N.M., found probable cause to support a criminal complaint charging Ashely Yarell Cruz-Castro, 21, and Stephanie Esther Caminero, 21, both of Patterson, N.J., with heroin trafficking offenses. Cruz-Castro and Caminero were released pending trial under pretrial supervision and other conditions of release.

 

DEA Special Agents arrested Cruz-Castro and Caminero on April 29, 2017, after they allegedly seized a total of 6.6 kilograms (14.52 pounds) of heroin from the two women during an interdiction investigation at the Greyhound Bus Station in Albuquerque. According to the criminal complaint in which the two women are charged, Cruz-Castro and Caminero each allegedly possessed approximately 3.3 kilograms of heroin in their respective duffle bags.

 

If convicted, Cruz-Castro and Caminero each face a statutory mandatory minimum of ten years and a maximum of life in prison. Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

 

The case against Cruz-Castro and Caminero was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney George Kraehe as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities. Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico.

 

The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative. Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.

ALBUQUERQUE – Miguel Molina, 36, of Carlsbad, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 37 months in prison for unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition. Molina will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

 

Molina was arrested in July 2016, on an indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition on May 6, 2015, in Eddy County, N.M. According to the indictment, Molina was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his prior conviction for distributing marijuana.

 

On Nov. 17, 2016, Molina entered a guilty plea to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement.

 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin C. Segovia of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.

 

The Pecos Valley Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office, Carlsbad Police Department and Artesia Police Department and is part of the HIDTA Region VI Drug Task Force. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.

ALBUQUERQUE – Natalie Orozco, 30, of Los Angeles, Calif., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to a methamphetamine trafficking charge. The plea agreement recommends that Orozco be sentenced to ten years of imprisonment followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court. The guilty plea was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney and Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of the DEA’s El Paso Division.

 

The DEA arrested Orozco in May 2016, after seizing approximately 1.4 kilograms (3.08 pounds) of methamphetamine from her during an interdiction investigation at the Amtrak Train Station in Albuquerque. During a post-arrest statement, Orozco acknowledged that she was transporting the methamphetamine to Indianapolis, Ind., in exchange for money.

 

Orozco subsequently was indicted on May 25, 2016, and charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on May 9, 2016, in Bernalillo County, N.M.

 

During today’s proceedings, Orozco pled guilty to the indictment and admitted possessing methamphetamine concealed inside a backpack while traveling to Albuquerque on an Amtrak Train on May 9, 2016. Orozco also admitted that she was transporting the methamphetamine for money. Orozco remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eva Fontanez.

ALBUQUERQUE – Dwayne Cunningham, 49, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court to a methamphetamine trafficking charge. Cunningham’s plea agreement includes a recommendation that he be sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

 

Cunningham and co-defendants Devell Devoual, 35, and Cedric Laneham, 39, were arrested during an ATF-led investigation that resulted in the filing of 59 federal indictments and a federal criminal complaint charging 104 Bernalillo County residents with federal firearms and narcotics trafficking offenses. The investigation began in mid-April 2016, when ATF personnel from throughout the country joined forces with federal, state, county and local law enforcement agencies in New Mexico to combat the high rate of violent crime in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. The investigators utilized a number of investigative techniques, including undercover operations, historical investigation and targeting of multi-convicted felons in possession of firearms.

 

The investigation was undertaken in support of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies collaborate with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution primarily based on their prior criminal convictions with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

 

Cunningham and his co-defendants were arrested in July 2016, on an indictment charging them with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine between May 16, 2016 and June 2, 2016; Devoual and Laneham with distributing methamphetamine on May 17, 2016; and Devoual and Cunningham with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute on June 2, 2016. According to the indictment, the defendants committed the offenses in Bernalillo County, N.M.

 

During today’s proceedings, Cunningham pled guilty to distributing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine on May 17, 2016. Cunningham remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

 

To date, 46 of the 104 defendants including Lucero have entered guilty pleas, and 18 have been sentenced. The remaining defendants, including Devoual and Laneham, have entered not guilty pleas. Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

 

These cases were investigated by the Albuquerque office of ATF. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David M. Walsh and Norman Cairns.

ALBUQUERQUE – Mariano Ponce, Jr., 46, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 41 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.

 

Ponce was arrested on Aug. 2, 2016, on an indictment charging him with methamphetamine trafficking offenses. The indictment charged Ponce with distributing methamphetamine on Sept. 16, 2015, Oct. 14, 2015, and Oct. 23, 2015, and with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute on Dec. 7, 2015. According to the indictment, Ponce committed the crimes in Dona Ana County, N.M.

 

On Nov. 8, 2016, Ponce pled guilty to a felony information charging him with three counts of distributing methamphetamine and one count of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Ponce admitted that on Sept. 15, 2015, Oct. 14, 2015 and Oct. 23, 2015, he sold methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent. Ponce further admitted that on Dec. 7, 2015, law enforcement officers discovered a bag of methamphetamine in his vehicle, which he intended to distribute to others.

 

This case was investigated by the HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Clara Cobos of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

 

The HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force is comprised of officers from the Las Cruces Police Department, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, HSI and the New Mexico State Police. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.

ALBUQUERQUE – David Kingsbeck 43, of Farmington, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 37 months in prison for his conviction on drug trafficking and firearms charges. He will be on supervised release for threeyears after completing his prison sentence.

 

Kingsbeck was arrested on March 4, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with trafficking methamphetamine in San Juan County, N.M. According to the complaint, Kingsbeck sold approximately 57 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent on Feb. 16, 2016.

 

Kingsbeck and co-defendant Rupesh Bhakta, 38, also of Farmington, were subsequently indicted on March 23, 2016. Kingsbeck was charged individually with being a felon in possession of a firearm on July 1, 2015 and Dec. 30, 2015, and distributing heroin on Dec. 30, 2015. Bhakta and Kingsbeck were charged jointly with conspiracy and distribution of methamphetamine on Feb. 16, 2016. According to the indictment, the two men committed the crimes in San Juan County. Kingsbeck was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because of his prior felony convictions for criminal conspiracy, theft and escape.

 

On Dec. 19, 2016, Kingsbeck pled guilty to distributing heroin and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. In entering the guilty plea Kingsbeck admitted that on Dec. 29, 2015, he sold approximately 12.8 grams of heroin and a firearm and ammunition to an undercover law enforcement agent. Kingsbeck further admitted that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition on Dec. 29, 2015, because of his prior felony convictions.

 

On Dec. 8, 2016, Bhakta pled guilty to an information charging him with distribution of methamphetamine. In entering the guilty plea, Bhakta admitted that on Feb. 16, 2016, he distributed methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Bhakta will be sentenced within the range of 24 to 60 months in federal prison. A sentencing hearing is currently scheduled for May 11, 2017.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and the New Mexico State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rumaldo R. Armijo is prosecuting the case as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities. Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico.

 

The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative. Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.

ALBUQUERQUE – Benjamin Marquez, 42, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court to a methamphetamine trafficking charge. Marquez’s plea agreement includes a recommendation of 60 months of imprisonment followed by a period of supervised release to be determined by the court.

 

Marquez and his co-defendant Richard Lucero, 37, were arrested during an ATF-led investigation that resulted in the filing of 59 federal indictments and a federal criminal complaint charging 104 Bernalillo County residents with federal firearms and narcotics trafficking offenses. The investigation began in mid-April 2016, when ATF personnel from throughout the country joined forces with federal, state, county and local law enforcement agencies in New Mexico to combat the high rate of violent crime in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. The investigators utilized a number of investigative techniques, including undercover operations, historical investigation and targeting of multi-convicted felons in possession of firearms.

 

The investigation was undertaken in support of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies collaborate with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution primarily based on their prior criminal convictions with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

 

Marquez and Lucero were arrested in Aug. 2016, on a five-count indictment alleging drug trafficking offenses. Marquez was charged individually with distribution of heroin on May 5, 2016, and Marquez and Lucero were charged with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine from May 6, 2016 through June 1, 2016, and distribution of methamphetamine on May 6, 2016, May 18, 2016, and June 1, 2016. According to the indictment, the offenses took place in Bernalillo County.

 

During today’s proceedings, Marquez pled guilty to distributing methamphetamine, and admitted that on June 1, 2016, he sold approximately 60 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent. Marquez remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

 

To date, 45 of the 104 defendants including Lucero have entered guilty pleas, and 18 have been sentenced. The remaining defendants have entered not guilty pleas. Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

 

These cases were investigated by the Albuquerque office of ATF. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eva Fontanez.

Kentucky and Illinois

 

DEA-Led Investigation Included Seizures of 30 Kilograms of Heroin, 64 Kilograms of Methamphetamine, 17 Kilograms of Cocaine, 20 Kilograms of Marijuana, 24 Firearms, $102,000 in Currency and Three Vehicle

 

ALBUQUERQUE – Twenty-eight individuals are facing drug trafficking and money laundering charges as the result of a federal investigation targeting a Mexican drug trafficking organization (DTO) responsible for importing large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine from Mexico, and distributing the drugs in New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, Kentucky and Illinois.

 

The charges are the result of a 16-month DEA-led investigation during which law enforcement authorities seized approximately 30 kilograms of heroin, 64 kilograms of methamphetamine, 17 kilograms of cocaine, 20 kilograms of marijuana, 24 firearms, $102,000 in currency, and three vehicles. The investigation concluded this morning with an early morning, multi-agency law enforcement operation which included the execution of arrest warrants in New Mexico and Texas, and the execution of six search warrants at locations in El Paso, Tex., Sunland Park, N.M., Belen, N.M., and Albuquerque, N.M.

 

Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney and Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of the DEA’s El Paso Division announced the results of the investigation this afternoon during a press conference in Las Cruces, N.M. Representatives of the U.S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, New Mexico State Police, Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Department, Las Cruces Police Department and Sunland Park Police Department joined Acting U.S. Attorney Tierney and DEA Special Agent in Charge Glaspy in making the announcement.

 

In announcing the charges, Acting U.S. Attorney Tierney said, “This investigation and its resulting prosecutions are about taking control of our streets. The charges filed and drugs seized as the result of this investigation demonstrate the success of the collaborative efforts of our federal, state, county and local law enforcement agencies to root out drug traffickers operating in New Mexico and throughout the country. Through today’s announcement, the law enforcement community is sending a loud and clear message to those who traffic drugs in our communities that they cannot commit crimes in New Mexico without consequence.”

 

“Today law enforcement in New Mexico and West Texas has dealt a severe blow to a drug trafficking organization with ties to a Mexican drug cartel,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Glaspy. “Through the cooperation of numerous law enforcement organizations we have removed criminals from our communities who have been involved in smuggling, transporting, and distributing drugs.”

 

“The responsibility of protecting our borders and keeping our communities safe is a task to which we are committed. We are proud to partner with these other fine law enforcement agencies as we work together to protect our citizens and our future from the selfish criminals that look to profit by exploiting our neighborhoods and our children,” said Jeffrey D. Self, Chief Patrol Agent, El Paso Sector. “This entire investigation is a perfect example of an interdiction that continued into a perfectly executed investigation through a unified effort.”

 

“The results of this multi-agency operation reflects greatly on the partnership and commitment of dedicated men and women to combat the poisoning of our communities with highly addictive and dangerous drugs,” said Waldemar Rodriguez, Special Agent in Charge of HSI El Paso. “HSI is committed to continue working with our law enforcement partners to enhance public safety in our communities.”

 

The investigation, which was designated as part of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, targeted a DTO allegedly led by Luis Angel Briseño-Lopez, 30, a Mexican national believed to reside in Juarez, Mexico, and who has yet to be arrested. The multi-agency investigation revealed that the DTO allegedly imported large quantities of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine from Mexico into the United States; distributed the drugs in several states; and transported drug proceeds back to Mexico.

 

Twenty-three of the 28 defendants are charged in a 44-count indictment, three are charged in two separate criminal complaints, and two will be charged in criminal complaints being filed today. Twenty-three of the 28 defendants are in custody, including 20 who were arrested during today’s law enforcement operation.

 

The 44-count indictment, which was filed under seal on April 19, 2017 and unsealed earlier today, alleges that the 23 defendants charged therein participated in a conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine between April 2016 and April 2017. It also alleges that nine of the defendants also participated in an international money laundering conspiracy during that same period in time. The indictment also charges certain defendants with engaging in a series of substantive drug trafficking and money laundering offenses, and using communication devices (telephones) to facilitate their criminal activities. It charges one defendant with a firearms offense.

 

The indictment includes 77 overt acts allegedly committed by the defendants in furtherance of the drug trafficking conspiracy. The overt acts describe the expansive sweep of the DTO’s drug distribution operation and the significant quantities of drugs involved. For example, the overt acts allege that the DTO’s drug trafficking and money laundering activities extended to Kentucky, where law enforcement officers seized $15,300 in drug proceeds from a courier who was transporting the money to New Mexico in April 2016; Oklahoma, where law enforcement officers seized 4.44 kilograms of methamphetamine from a courier in June 2016; and New Mexico, where law enforcement officers seized six kilograms of heroin from couriers at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in October 2016.

 

The indictment also includes forfeiture allegations, which seek to forfeit to the United States the proceeds of the DTO’s drug trafficking and money-laundering activities, including $56,556 seized by the DEA during the investigation. It also seeks the imposition of a money judgment in the amount of at least $1.4 million, the amount allegedly derived from the crimes charged in the indictment.

 

One defendant is charged in a criminal complaint with heroin and cocaine trafficking offenses arising out of the seizure of approximately 24.4 pounds of heroin and 2.45 pounds of cocaine at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 25 north of Las Cruces on March 10, 2017. Two other defendants are charged in a criminal complaint with heroin trafficking offenses arising out of the seizure of approximately 17.8 pounds of heroin by the Hatch Police Department during a traffic stop near Hatch, N.M., on April 20, 2017.

 

Two other defendants, who were not previously charged, were arrested during today’s law enforcement operation. They will be charged in criminal complaints to be filed today with drug trafficking and money laundering offenses.

 

“The citizens of New Mexico are safer today because of the collaborative effort between law enforcement agencies. When law enforcement agencies combine resources and assets, we are able to bring illegal narcotic traffickers to justice,” said Chief Pete Kassetas of the New Mexico State Police. “These cases are great examples of how local, county, state and federal agencies are working with State District Attorneys and the U.S. Attorney to prosecute those responsible for their crimes. This operation reinforces that there are consequences to those that choose to conspire to illegal narcotics crimes in our communities and state.”

 

“The Hatch Police Department along with the other agencies involved in today’s operation continue to have a strong relationship,” said Chief James Gimler of the Hatch Police Department. “We are honored to work hand in hand with our federal partners, the DEA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in achieving the ultimate goal of keeping our streets safe.”

 

Doña Ana County Sheriff Enrique Vigil said, “I can say with confidence that our local law-enforcement agencies are committed to doing all that we can to bring fugitives to justice, and will continue working together to make our great state of New Mexico a safe place. In doing that, I will continue to pledge every resource available from the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department towards that goal.”

 

“The Las Cruces Police Department is proud of the working relationship we have with other local and federal law enforcement agencies,” said Chief Jaime Montoya of the Las Cruces Police Department. “We rely on each other to help keep our communities safe from those who defy our laws.”

 

“Through partnerships within our federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, those communities and families affected by criminal activity can rest assured, that at the end of the day, we are all here to Serve and Protect. We want to be a part of making the neighborhoods safe again in order to ensure that our community can roam around freely without worrying about crime a foot,” said Chief Javier Guerra of the Sunland Park Police Department. “In keeping our community safe, I want to enlist their help by asking them to report anything out of the ordinary, suspicious behavior and domestic violence. It is the duty and responsibility of the community to watch-out for each other.”

 

The Las Cruces and Albuquerque offices of the DEA conducted the investigation with assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol, New Mexico State Police and Hatch Police Department. In addition, the Las Cruces and El Paso offices of Homeland Security Investigations, Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, Las Cruces Police Department and Sunland Park Police Department participated in today’s law enforcement operation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Selesia L. Winston and Sarah M. Davenport of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office are prosecuting the cases as part of the OCDETF Program and the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative.

 

The OCDETF Program is a nationwide Department of Justice program that combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations.

 

The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities. Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico. The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative. Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.

 

Indictment in United States v. Luis Angel Briseño-Lopez, et al., 17-CR-1032-RB

 

Summary of the Charges

 

Count 1 of the Indictment charges 23 defendants with participating in a conspiracy to distribute heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine. The statutory penalty for a conviction on this count is imprisonment for not less than ten years nor more than life and a $10 million fine.

 

Count 2 of the Indictment charges nine defendants with participating in an international money laundering conspiracy. The maximum statutory penalty for a conviction on this count is 20 years and a $500,000.

 

Counts 3, 20, 21, 31 and 39 charge certain defendants with substantive international money laundering offenses. The maximum statutory penalty for a conviction on this count is 20 years and a $500,000.

 

Counts 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 22 through 24, 27, 28, 30, 32 and 33 charge certain defendants with using communication facilities to facilitate drug trafficking crimes. The maximum statutory penalty for a conviction on each of these counts is imprisonment for four years and a $250,000 fine.

 

Counts 6 and 29 charge certain defendants with possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of a mixture and a substance containing methamphetamine. The statutory penalty for a conviction on this count is imprisonment for not less than ten years or more than life and a $10 million fine.

 

Count 9 charges a defendant with distributing more than 50 grams of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine. The maximum penalty for a conviction on this count is imprisonment for not less than five years or more than 40 years and a $5 million fine.

 

Count 12 charges a defendant with distributing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine. The statutory penalty for a conviction on this count is imprisonment for not less than ten years or more than life and a $10 million fine.

 

Counts 14, 25, 35 and 36 charge certain defendants with possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine. The statutory penalty for a conviction on this count is imprisonment for not less than ten years or more than life and a $10 million fine.

 

Counts 16, 19, 26, 34, 37, 38, 40 and 44 charge certain defendants with possession with intent to distribute more than a kilogram of heroin. The statutory penalty for a conviction on this count is imprisonment for not less than ten years or more than life and a $10 million fine.

 

Count 41 charges a defendant with carrying and possessing a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The statutory penalty for a conviction on this count is imprisonment for not less than five years, which must be served consecutive to any sentence imposed on other counts of conviction.

 

Count 42 charges a defendant with managing or controlling a residence for storing controlled substances. The maximum penalty for a conviction on this count is imprisonment for 20 years and a $500,000 fine.

 

Count 43 charges certain defendants with possessing with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. . The maximum penalty for a conviction on this count is imprisonment for not less than five years or more than 40 years and a $5 million fine.

 

Charges against Defendants

 

Luis Angel Briseño-Lopez, 30, a Mexican national believed to reside in Juarez, Mexico, is charged in Counts 1-4, 6, 13-17, 20-21, 23, 25-26, 29, 31-32 and 34-39 of the indictment. Briseño-Lopez has yet to be arrested and is considered a fugitive.

 

Francisco Luna-Rosales, 50, a legal permanent resident who resides in Albuquerque, N.M., is charged in Counts 1, 27, 29, 38 and 40-42 of the indictment. Luna-Rosales has yet to be arrested and is considered a fugitive.

 

Omar Fernandez, 21, of Albuquerque, N.M., is charged in Counts 1, 24 and 28 of the indictment. Fernandez was arrested this morning in Albuquerque.

 

Manuel German Ibarra, 32, of Albuquerque, N.M., is charged in Counts 1, 2, 22 and 31 of the indictment. Ibarra has yet to be arrested and is considered a fugitive.

 

Juan R. Gutierrez, 30, of Belen, N.M., is charged in Counts 1, 2 and 18-20 of the indictment. Gutierrez was arrested this morning in Belen.

 

Gustavo Hernandez-Loaiza, 38, of Albuquerque, N.M., is charged in Counts 1, 2 and 21 of the indictment. Hernandez-Loaiza was arrested this morning in Albuquerque.

 

Joshua Jande Carmona, 23 of El Paso, Tex., is charged in Counts 1-3, 5-8, 10-11, 14, 29-31 and 34-35 of the indictment. Carmona was arrested this morning in Arlington, Tex.

 

Alberto Terrazas-Ignacio, 24, of Albuquerque, N.M., is charged in Counts 1, 2, 6, 15-18, 20-28, 32-33 and 44 of the indictment. Terrazas-Ignacio was arrested this morning in Las Cruces.

 

Jose Manuel Ortiz-Campos, 28, a legal permanent resident residing in El Paso, Tex., is charged in Counts 1- 2 and 36-40 of the indictment. Ortiz-Campos was arrested this morning in El Paso.

 

Diego Armando Rivas-Aguilar, 23, a Mexican national, is charged in Counts 1 and 33 of the indictment. Rivas-Aguilar is in custody on a federal marijuana trafficking charge in the Western District of Texas and will be transferred to the District of New Mexico to face the charges in the indictment.

 

Edgar Dominguez-Cuellar, 30, of Sunland Park, N.M., is charged in Counts 1, 7-10 and 12-13 of the indictment. Dominguez-Cuellar is in custody on a federal alien smuggling charge in the District of New Mexico.

 

Rosa M. De Santiago, 43, of Sunland Park, N.M., is charged in Counts 1- 2 and 36-40 of the indictment. De Santiago was arrested this morning in Sunland Park.

 

Georgina Ramirez, 36, of Anthony, N.M., is charged in Counts 1, 36-38 and 43 of the indictment. Ramirez was arrested this morning in Anthony.

 

Jesus A. Flores, 39, a legal permanent resident of Anthony, N.M., is charged in Counts 1, 38 and 43 of the indictment. Flores was arrested this morning in Anthony.

 

Alfonso Rios, 36, of Santa Rosa, N.M., is charged in Counts 1 and 11 of the indictment. Rios was arrested in El Paso.

 

Vanessa Reyes, 26, of El Paso, Tex., is charged in Counts 1-2 and 29-31 of the indictment. Reyes was arrested this morning in Arlington, Tex.

 

Roderica T. Bahe, 24, of Albuquerque, N.M., is charged in Counts 1 and 44 of the indictment. Bahe was arrested this morning in Las Cruces.

 

Martin J. Contreras, 25, of Rio Rancho, N.M., is charged in Counts 1 and 25-26 of the indictment. Contreras was arrested this morning in Rio Rancho.

 

Elizabeth Monroy, 19, of Chaparral, N.M., is charged in Counts 1 and 36-37 of the indictment. Monroy was arrested this morning in Chaparral.

 

Daisy Hidalgo, 22, of Anthony, N.M., is charged in Counts 1 and 36-37 of the indictment. Hidalgo has yet to be arrested and is considered a fugitive.

 

Jazmin Lucia Soto, 19, of Chaparral, N.M., is charged in Counts 1 and 36-37 of the indictment. Soto was arrested this morning in Las Cruces.

 

Ricardo Terrazas-Ignacio, 19, of Las Cruces, N.M., is charged in Count 1 and 16 of the indictment. Terrazas-Ignacio was arrested this morning in Las Cruces.

 

Dulce Viridiana Rodriguez, 21, of Albuquerque, N.M., is charged in Counts 1 and 38 of the indictment. Rodriguez has yet to be arrested and is considered a fugitive.

 

Criminal Complaint in United States v. Jose Fernando Lucero, 17-MJ-617-GJF

 

The criminal complaint charges Jose Fernando Lucero, 24, of Las Cruces, N.M., with conspiracy and possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to distribute. The charges against Lucero arise out of the seizure of approximately 24.4 pounds (11 kilograms) of heroin and 2.45 pounds (1.1 kilogram) of cocaine by the U.S. Border Patrol on March 10, 2017, during an inspection at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 25 north of Las Cruces, N.M. The statutory penalty for a conviction on the charges in the complaint is imprisonment for not less than ten years nor more than life and a $10 million fine. Lucero was arrested on March 10, 2017, and remains in federal custody pending trial.

 

Criminal Complaint in United States v. Reyes, et al., 17-MJ-1042-SMV

 

The criminal complaint charges Maria Isabel Reyes, 37, and Roberta Guillermina Ornelas, 38, both of Horizon City, Tex., with conspiracy and possession of more than a pound of heroin with intent to distribute. The charges against Reye and Ornelas arise out of the seizure of approximately 17.80 pounds (8.10 kilograms) by the Hatch Police Department near Hatch, N.M., on April 20, 2017. The statutory penalty for a conviction on the charges in the complaint is imprisonment for not less than ten years nor more than life and a $10 million fine. Reyes and Ornelas were arrested today in Horizon City.

 

Additional Defendants

 

Gonzalo Dominguez-Cuellar, 24, of Sunland Park, N.M., was arrested this morning and will be charged by criminal complaint with participating in the drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracies charged in the indictment.

 

Ivonne Briseno-Lopez, 26, of El Paso, Texas, was arrested this morning and will be charged by criminal complaint with participating in the money laundering conspiracies charged in the indictment.

 

Charges in indictments and criminal complaints are only accusations. All criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Briseno-Lopez Indictment    Lucero Complaint     Reyes Complaint

ALBUQUERQUE – Ronald J. Martinez, 43, a member and resident of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, N.M., made his initial appearance this morning in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., on assault and firearms charges. Martinez remains in federal custody pending a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, both of which are scheduled for May 1, 2017.

 

Martinez is charged in a criminal complaint with assault with a dangerous weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm on April 20, 2017, on the Ohkay Owingeh Indian Reservation in Rio Arriba County, N.M. According to the complaint, an Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Police Officer responded to a call at a residence on the Ohkay Owingeh Indian Reservation regarding an alleged fight between and a woman over a firearm. When the officer arrived, allegedly assaulted the Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Police Officer with a stick while the officer was attempting to arrest Martinez.

 

The complaint alleges that officers recovered a loaded firearm at the scene, leading to the firearms charge against Martinez, who is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his prior felony convictions for assault resulting in serious bodily injury and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a violent crime.

 

If convicted on the charges in the criminal complaint, Martinez faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison on the assault charge and the firearms charge. Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

This case was investigated by Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and the Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisa Dimas.

ALBUQUERQUE – Anthony Nieto, 29, an enrolled member of Nambe Pueblo who resides in Zuni, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 18 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on an assault charge.

 

Nieto was arrested on June 21, 2016, on an indictment charging him with assaulting his intimate partner and causing her to suffer serious bodily injury. According to the indictment, Nieto committed the crime on Aug. 16, 2015, in Nambe Pueblo in Santa Fe County, N.M.

 

On Nov. 16, 2016, Nieto pled guilty to the indictment and admitted assaulting the victim on Aug. 16, 2015, by striking and kicking her, and causing her to suffer serious bodily injury. More specifically, Nieto admitted that the victim sustained bruising on her face, arms and lower extremities as a result of the assault.

 

This case was investigated by the FBI office in Santa Fe and the Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.

 

This case was brought as part of the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico, which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native American women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.

ALBUQUERQUE – Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney and Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of the El Paso Division of the DEA, will hold a press conference at 2:00 p.m., FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2017, to announce the results of a DEA-led, multi-agency law enforcement investigation that culminated today with a major arrest operation. They will be joined by representatives of the law enforcement agencies that participated in the investigation and today’s operation.

 

WHO:

Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney

Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy, DEA, El Paso Division

Acting Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Jason E. Schneider, U.S. Border Patrol

Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jeffery Mayfield, Homeland Security Investigations

New Mexico State Police Captain Troy Weesler

Dona Ana County Sheriff Enrique Vigil

Chief Jaime Montoya, Las Cruces Police Department

Chief Javier Guerra, Sunland Park Police Department

 

WHEN:

FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2017, 2:00 P.M.

 

WHERE:

DEA Las Cruces Resident Office

2290 East Griggs Avenue

Las Cruces, NM 88001

OPEN PRESS

 

NOTE: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (i.e., driver’s license) and valid media credentials. Media may begin to arrive at 1:30 p.m. Inquiries regarding logistics should be directed to Alyssa Ferda at 505-224-1480 or alyssa.ferda@usdoj.gov.

ALBUQUERQUE – The U.S. Attorney’s Office today recognized fifteen individuals for their exceptional efforts to address New Mexico’s opioid epidemic and to attain the goals of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative during its Thirteen Annual Law Enforcement Awards Ceremony in Albuquerque, N.M. Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney commended the following individuals for their important roles in solving the multi-faceted problems caused by the opioid epidemic:

 

Bernalillo County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins, District 3, and Dr. William Wiese, Chair, Coordinating Committee of the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, were recognized for working with policymakers and local government to develop a coordinated response to the heroin and opioid epidemic through the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative. Commissioner Hart Stebbins has been the driving force behind the Initiative, a multi-sectoral collective impact strategy to align the activities of governmental, non-profit, business and community leaders to strengthen the prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and law enforcement/criminal justice systems in Bernalillo County, and Dr. Wiese serves as the Chair of the Initiative’s Coordinating Committee. Through their efforts, Bernalillo County has taken significant strides in providing support and treatment for individuals struggling with addiction, increasing the availability of naloxone, providing medically assisted treatment (MAT) in its detention center, and raising awareness throughout the County.

 

Albuquerque City Councilor Diane Gibson, District 7, was recognized for her leadership role in promoting public awareness of naloxone, a life-saving medication that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, is easy to administer and safe to use. Councilor Gibson kicked off a public awareness campaign in April 2016, to educate the community about naloxone, and to encourage those who keep narcotic painkillers in their homes or who have family members or friends who are addicted to heroin or prescription painkillers to keep emergency doses of naloxone on hand. Councilor Gibson was a leader in the effort that resulted in legislation making naloxone available in numerous city-owned facilities throughout Albuquerque and requiring that officers of the Albuquerque Police Department be equipped with and trained to administer naloxone.

 

Dr. Joanna Katzman, Medical Director, UNM Pain Clinic, UNM Health Sciences Center, was recognized for her critical role in the enactment of the first-of-its-kind legislation supported by the UNM Health Sciences Center to make a life-saving drug that reverses the effects of opioid overdoses more widely available to New Mexicans. House Bill 370 puts naloxone into the hands of law enforcement officers and makes the medication available to individuals undergoing narcotic replacement therapy and newly released inmates diagnosed with opioid addiction. Dr. Katzman previously played a key role in enactment of legislation requiring continuing medical education (CME) training in the treatment of chronic pain, and participated in developing the mandatory CME program for physicians and physician assistants that ensures that healthcare providers in New Mexico pursue evolving best practices in pain and addiction treatment.

 

Dr. Snehal R. Bhatt, Medical Director of Addictions and Substance Abuse Programs, UNM Psychiatric Center, was recognized for his outstanding efforts to improve access to addiction treatment in communities across New Mexico, exploring novel pharmacological treatments for addictive illnesses, and educating medical students, residents and medical professionals throughout New Mexico and across the country. Dr. Bhatt is part of the UNM Health Sciences Center team collaborating with the Indian Health Services (IHS) to combat the disproportionate misuse of opioids by Native Americans by using telehealth technology to provide training in best practices in chronic pain management to thousands of IHS health care providers.

 

Chief Medical Investigator Kurt Nolte, Medical Investigator Hannah Kastenbaum and Forensic Pathologist Karen Cline-Parhamovich of the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI), were recognized for their outstanding contributions to combatting New Mexico’ opioid epidemic. OMI is on the front-line of the opioid epidemic. Through the leadership of Dr. Nolte, Dr. Kastenbaum and Dr. Cline-Parhamovich, OMI has emerged as integral information-sharing partner in the HOPE Initiative. OMI is working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in an effort to create a real-time surveillance model for all drug-related deaths. Such model would be the first of its kind and would enable both health and public safety officials to work in lockstep to address this devastating problem.

 

Executive Director Jennifer Weiss-Burke and Prevention Specialist Lou Duran of Healing Addiction in Our Community were recognized for raising community awareness of the dangers of opioid abuse and addiction. HAC is a non-profit organization founded seven years ago by concerned parents and grandparents, and is dedicated to providing education and awareness about the heroin and opiate epidemic that plagues our state. HAC provides the voices for those who have lost their lives to addiction and for those who continue to struggle. Years before the rest of the country realized that the opioid epidemic was looming, Ms. Weiss-Burke, Ms. Duran and HAC were using their personal stories to draw attention to this critically important issue. The HOPE Initiative continues to be inspired by Ms. Weiss-Burke, Ms. Duran and HAC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office is proud to collaborate with them on HOPE’s education and prevention efforts.

Susan McKee, Counseling Manager, Albuquerque Public Schools, was recognized for her outstanding work supervising and coordinating the Crossroads Counselors Program. APS’s seven Crossroads Counselors educate students on substance abuse and help students with drug issues overcome their problems so they may successfully further their lives and educations. Crossroads Counselors all have master's degrees, school counselor licenses and training in substance abuse counseling. Ms. McKee and the Crossroad Counselors support and participate in the prevention and education component of the HOPE Initiative by including Generation Rx, DEA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in their substance abuse programs, and by providing guidance on HOPE presentations to ensure that they are relevant and relatable to teens and young adults.

Brittany Haggard, a Pharm. D. candidate at the UNM College of Pharmacy and 2016 Chairperson of Generation Rx, was recognized for her outstanding support of and participation in the prevention and education component of the HOPE Initiative. Generation Rx is an educational outreach program of the UNM College of Pharmacy that educates middle school, high school and college students, parents and senior citizens about the dangers of prescription drug misuse. Ms. Haggard and other Generation Rx members collaborated with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and DEA in presenting prevention programs to thousands of students in 2016.

Three law enforcement officers of the Drug Enforcement Administration were recognized for their outstanding support of and participation in the prevention and education component of the HOPE Initiative. Working with Generation Rx and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, they regularly participate in the Albuquerque Public Schools’ Parent Involvement Program (PIP). The PIP provides an alternative to long-term suspensions for students who are caught on campus with drugs or alcohol that requires students and their parents participate in a series of counseling sessions that help students get back on track by focusing on communication, problem solving and the effects of drugs.

 

The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities. Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico. The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.

ALBUQUERQUE – The U.S. Attorney’s Office today honored 111 law enforcement officers, agents and investigators for their outstanding work on dozens of cases that led to the convictions of murderers, sexual predators, drug dealers, fraudsters, and other criminals during an awards ceremony in Albuquerque, N.M. Twelve private citizens and policymakers also were recognized for exceptional contributions to the Office’s public safety initiatives addressing the opioid epidemic, youth prevention and education programs, officer safety, and national security. The ceremony, held at the Vincent E. Griego Council Chambers of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Government Center, drew a large crowd of prosecutors and staff from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, leaders of numerous federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies, and representatives from the UNM Health Sciences Center, City of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, Albuquerque Public Schools, and community organizations.

 

Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney said the Office’s Thirteenth Annual Law Enforcement Awards Ceremony recognized the outstanding work performed by honorees in 2016 on a wide variety of investigations, including those involving violent crimes, narcotics trafficking, fraud and public corruption, and national security matters. It also distinguished the exceptional efforts of some of New Mexico’s most distinguished, dedicated, and deserving private citizens and policymakers. The efforts recognized during the ceremony represent only a small portion of the remarkable work performed by law enforcement and citizens on behalf of the communities.

 

“The many men and women being honored today exemplify the professionalism, dedication, and commitment to public service shown by law enforcement, private citizens, and policymakers throughout New Mexico each and every day,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Tierney. “This ceremony is a way to express our appreciation to the officers and agents on the front lines of justice, as well as the private citizens and policymakers who work tirelessly to make New Mexico stronger, safer, and more just.”

 

Former U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez also was honored during the ceremony for his service as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico from May 2014 to March 2017, as well as an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 2001 to 2014. Mr. Martinez received accolades from the leaders of numerous law enforcement agencies. Dr. Paul B. Roth, Chancellor of the UNM Health Sciences Center, honored Mr. Martinez for collaborating with him in establishing the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative, a program which seeks to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and to reduce the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico.

 

The ceremony honored the achievements of law enforcement officers from a multitude of federal, state, local, and tribal agencies. In addition to law enforcement, the ceremony also recognized the achievements of private citizens who have improved the safety and lives of the citizens of New Mexico.

 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is charged with enforcing federal criminal laws in New Mexico, as well as with representing the federal government in civil litigation. The District is composed of approximately 80 Assistant U.S. Attorneys and approximately 91 staff members at offices located in Albuquerque and Las Cruces. Today’s ceremony recognized work undertaken in collaboration with the Albuquerque office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A separate ceremony in Las Cruces will recognize work undertaken in collaboration with the Las Cruces office.

ALBUQUERQUE – Tony Derrick Torrez, 33, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court to drug trafficking and firearms charges. The plea agreement recommends that Torrez be sentenced to a term of imprisonment within the range of 93 to 101 months followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court. The plea agreement also requires Torrez to forfeit to the United States $64,000 in drug proceeds and firearms and ammunition seized during the investigation of the case.

 

The guilty plea was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney, Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of the El Paso Division of the DEA, Special Agent in Charge Thomas G. Atteberry of the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Chief Gorden E. Eden Jr., of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).

 

Torrez was charged in a federal criminal complaint in Oct. 2015, with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and using and carrying firearms in relation to drug trafficking crimes. According to the complaint, committed these crimes on Oct. 21 and 22, 2015, in Bernalillo County, N.M. was subsequently charged in a five-count indictment with possessing marijuana with intent to distribute; maintaining a place for the purpose of distributing controlled substances; possession of cocaine, testosterone and its esters; possession of firearms and ammunition by an illegal drug user; and possessing firearms and ammunition in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The indictment asserted that committed these five crimes on Oct. 21, 2015, in Bernalillo County.

 

According to court filings, the federal investigation into Torrez began on Oct. 21, 2015, when APD received a tip about a suspect who shot and killed a child during a road rage incident; the tipster provided a residential address for the suspect. Based on the tip, APD officers conducted surveillance at the residence where they observed a man, subsequently identified as Torrez, load items into a Toyota sedan. APD officers later conducted a traffic stop on the Toyota after a woman drove away from the residence in the Toyota. Shortly thereafter, APD officers conducted a traffic stop on a Lexus sedan that drove away from the residence and identified the driver as Torrez. APD sealed and towed the two vehicles to the APD Crime Lab.

 

On Oct. 21, 2015, APD executed a state search warrant at the aforementioned residence where they found shoeboxes containing U.S. currency, paraphernalia and other items consistent with the use of marijuana and a substance believed to be “wax,” a concentrated form of THC oil processed from the marijuana plant. Thereafter, the DEA executed a federal search warrant on Torrez’s residence and the two vehicles and seized items and paraphernalia used for distributing marijuana and possibly for the manufacturing THC “wax” and oil. From the vehicles, the officers seized a bag with U.S. currency, marijuana, firearms and ammunition, a bullet-proof vest, a small amount of suspected cocaine, and drug paraphernalia. Court filings indicate that approximately $64,000.00 in cash was seized from Torrez’s residence and vehicles.

 

During today’s proceedings, Torrez pled guilty to all five counts of the indictment. In his plea agreement, Torrez admitted possessing marijuana in Oct. 2015 that he intended to distribute to others as well as illegal steroids for his personal use. Torrez also admitted possessing several firearms while he was using the illegal steroids to protect himself from the dangers of the drug trafficking business. Finally, Torrez admitted using his residence to store marijuana he sold.

 

Torrez previously pled guilty in Dec. 2016, to related state court charges arising out of the murder of a child during the Oct. 21, 2015 road rage incident, and was sentenced to a 16-year term of imprisonment. Under the terms of the plea agreement in the federal case, ’ federal sentence will run consecutive to at least 15 of the 16-year state prison sentence. remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque offices of the DEA and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and APD, with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Mysliwiec and Nicholas Ganjei are prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Two Albuquerque, N.M., men were sentenced yesterday for their convictions on federal firearms and drug trafficking charges. Marcus Sowell, 19, was sentenced in Albuquerque to a year and a day in prison followed by two years of supervised release for possession of an unregistered firearm. Shawn Anthony Burns, 31, was sentenced yesterday in Santa Fe, N.M., to 60 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for crack cocaine trafficking.

 

Sowell and Burns were arrested during an ATF-led investigation that resulted in the filing of 59 federal indictments and a federal criminal complaint charging 104 Bernalillo County residents with federal firearms and narcotics trafficking offenses. The investigation began in mid-April 2016, when ATF personnel from throughout the country joined forces with federal, state, county and local law enforcement agencies in New Mexico to combat the high rate of violent crime in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. The investigators utilized a number of investigative techniques, including undercover operations, historical investigation and targeting of multi-convicted felons in possession of firearms.

 

The investigation was undertaken in support of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies collaborate with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution primarily based on their prior criminal convictions with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

 

Sowell and his co-defendants Damon Giles, 23, Michael Borrego, 25, Adrian Banks, 28, and Marcus Lewis, 27, were charged in a 12-count indictment filed on June 30, 2016. The indictment charged the following:

• Sowell with possession of a firearm not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) and engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license on May 19, 2016;

• Giles with being a felon in possession of a firearm on May 19, 2016;

• Giles and Borrego with engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license on May 31, 2016;

• Giles and Banks with engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license on June 7, 2016;

• Banks with being a felon in possession of firearms on June 7, 2016;

• Borrego with engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license on June 7, 2016 and June 10, 2016;

• Giles and Lewis with distribution of cocaine on June 9, 2016;

• Borrego with possession of a firearm not registered to him in the NFRTR on June 10, 2016;

• Giles with engaging in the business of dealing firearms without a license and being a felon in possession of firearms on June 13, 2016.

   

According to the indictment, the offenses were committed in Bernalillo County, N.M.

 

On Nov. 4, 2016, Sowell pled guilty to possession of an unregistered firearm and admitted that on May 19, 2016, he possessed a firearm not registered to him in the NFRTR.

 

Burns was arrested in July 2016, on an indictment charging him with distributing crack cocaine on April 19, 2016, April 20, 2016, and April 29, 2016, in Bernalillo County. On Dec. 9, 2016, Burns pled guilty to distributing crack cocaine and admitted that on April 29, 2016, he distributed 28 grams and more of crack cocaine.

 

To date, 43 of the 104 defendants have entered guilty pleas, and 18 have been sentenced. The remaining defendants have entered not guilty pleas. Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

 

These cases were investigated by the Albuquerque office of ATF. The case against Sowell was prosecuted by Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney and the case against Burns was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly A. Brawley.

ALBUQUERQUE – Joe Ray Alires, 42, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced yesterday in federal court to180 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition, announced Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney and Special Agent in Charge Thomas G. Atteberry of the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

 

Alires was charged by an indictment filed on Nov. 19, 2014, with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition on June 26, 2014, in Bernalillo County, N.M. Alires was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his status as a convicted felon. According to the indictment, on June 26, 2014, Alires had at least ten felony convictions, convictions for residential and commercial burglary, possession of a controlled substance, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a deadly weapon or explosive by a prisoner.

 

On March 9, 2017, Alires pled guilty to the indictment under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and admitted to possessing a loaded pistol on June 26, 2014, despite his status as a convicted felon.

 

This case was investigated by the ATF office in Albuquerque and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Walsh as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders primarily based on their prior criminal convictions for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible. Because New Mexico’s violent crime rate, on a per capita basis, is one of the highest in the nation, New Mexico’s law enforcement community is collaborating to target repeat and violent offenders, primarily based on their prior convictions, from counties with the highest violent crime rates including Bernalillo County under this initiative.

ALBUQUERQUE – Sabrina Morgan, 39, of Jeddito, Ariz., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to a larceny charge arising out of her theft of cash belonging to a commercial business located in Naschitti, N.M.

 

Morgan was charged in an indictment filed on March 14, 2017, with stealing more than $1,000 from the Red Mesa Trading Company, which is located on the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, N.M. At the time of the offense, Morgan was employed as the district supervisor of the Trading Company.

 

During today’s proceedings, Morgan entered a guilty plea to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement. At sentencing, Morgan faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

 

This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Murphy.

ALBUQUERQUE – Isaiah Gallegos, 22, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty this morning in federal court to an armed bank robbery charge. Gallegos is the final of four defendants to enter a guilty plea in the case.

 

Isaiah Gallegos was arrested in March 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him and four co-defendants, Greg Miera, 51, Christian Herrera, 20, Christopher Gallegos, 33, and Martin Huertta, 44, all of Albuquerque, with bank robbery. According to the complaint, a source identified the defendants as the individuals involved in robbing the US Bank branch located at 5620 Wyoming Blvd. NE in Albuquerque, on March 30, 2016. Albuquerque Police Department (APD) officers conducted surveillance as a vehicle with four men pulled up to the US Bank on the afternoon of March 30, 2016. Three of the men remained in the vehicle while the fourth entered the bank, threatened to shoot the bank employees, and demanded that two bank tellers place cash into a plastic bag.

 

Huertta, Miera, Herrera, Isaiah Gallegos and Christopher Gallegos were indicted on April 27, 2016, and charged with bank robbery.

 

During today’s proceedings, Isaiah Gallegos pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on March 30, 2016, he participated in the robbery of the US Bank branch located at 5620 Wyoming Blvd. NE in Albuquerque by acting as lookout while his co-defendants robbed the bank.

 

Isaiah Gallegos’ four co-defendants have entered guilty pleas and one has been sentenced. Huertta pled guilty on Sept. 9, 2016 and was sentenced on March 14, 2017 to 108 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Miera entered a guilty plea on Oct. 11, 2016, Christopher Gallegos entered a guilty plea on Feb. 13, 2017, and Herrera entered a guilty plea on Feb. 24, 2017. At sentencing, Isaiah Gallegos, Herrera, Christopher Gallegos and Miera each face a statutory maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison. They remain in custody pending sentencing hearings.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI and the Albuquerque Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Letitia C. Simms is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – The U.S. Attorney’s Office and UNM Health and Sciences Center are encouraging community participation in DEA’s 13th National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, April 29, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 pm as part of the prevention and education component of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. To raise public awareness about Saturday’s nationwide event, the HOPE Initiative Partners and DEA are collaborating with the City of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County and Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC) in hosting a promotional Drug Take-Back event on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., during “Truckin’ Tuesday” in Civic Plaza. The promotional event will provide City and County employees and others who work in downtown Albuquerque with a safe, convenient and responsible way of disposing of unused, unwanted or expired medications. Representatives from these collaborators will be available to speak with the media at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, in Civic Plaza during the promotional event.

 

WHO:

Asst. Special Agent in Charge Sean R. Waite, DEA Albuquerque District Office

Bernalillo County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins, District 3

Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Martinez

WHEN:

TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 2017

1:00 P.M.

WHERE:

Albuquerque Civic Plaza

1 Civic Plaza NW

Albuquerque, NM 87012

OPEN PRESS

 

Members of the public who wish to participate in Saturday’s nationwide event can find a nearby Prescription Drug Take-Back collection site by visiting www.dea.gov, clicking on the “Got Drugs?” icon, and entering their zip code into the search window, or they can call 800-882-9539. Only pills and other solids, like patches, will be accepted at DEA Drug Take Back collection sites – the public should not bring liquids, needles or other sharp items to take back sites. This service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

 

The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic that has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities. Working in partnership with Bernalillo County, DEA, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC) and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico. The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal jury sitting in Las Cruces, N.M., returned a verdict on Friday afternoon (April 21, 2017) finding Trevor Lee Thayer, 46, of Silver City, N.M., guilty of violating the federal firearms and narcotics trafficking laws after a five-day trial. The jury found Thayer guilty on two firearms charges and one narcotics trafficking charge, and acquitted Thayer on three firearms charges and a narcotics trafficking charge.

 

The jury’s verdict was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney, Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of the DEA’s El Paso Division, and Special Agent in Charge Thomas G. Atteberry of the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

 

Thayer was charged with firearms and narcotics trafficking offenses in a five-count indictment that was filed on Feb. 13, 2013. The indictment charged Thayer with illegally possessing a short-barreled rifle and a silencer, manufacturing a silencer, manufacturing marijuana, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. On Aug. 14, 2013, Thayer was charged with the additional charge of maintaining premises for the purpose of manufacturing marijuana in a superseding indictment. The indictment was superseded a second time on Sept. 13, 2016, to include two additional charges for manufacturing silencers. Thayer was charged with committing these offenses in Grant County, N.M., in Aug. 2012.

 

Thayer’s trial began on April 17, 2017, and concluded on April 21, 2017, when the jury returned a guilty verdict on Counts 2, 4 and 5 of the second superseding indictment, which charged him with unlawful possession of a silencer, unlawful possession of a silencer manufacturing kit, and manufacturing and possessing approximately 30 marijuana plants. The jury acquitted Thayer on Counts 1, 3, 6 and 7.

 

The jury’s guilty verdict was based on evidence establishing that in Aug. 2012, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Thayer’s residence and seized eight firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, two silencers, a silencer manufacturing toolkit, marijuana plants and marijuana plant manufacturing materials. Investigation revealed that Thayer modified a firearm and manufactured the two silencers, one metal and one plastic, and that he did not have any firearms registered to him in the national Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

 

The evidence at trial also established that in Aug. 2012, Thayer was manufacturing and growing marijuana plants at his residence with an expired grow license from the State of New Mexico.

 

At sentencing, Thayer faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in prison on each of the two firearms charges and five years in prison on the marijuana offense.

 

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces offices of the DEA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the New Mexico Motor Transportation Police and the New Mexico State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maria Y. Armijo and Matthew Beck of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office are prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – This morning, Chief U.S. District Judge M. Christina Armijo sentenced Davon Lymon, 36, of Albuquerque, N.M., for his conviction on federal heroin trafficking and firearms charges. Lymon was sentenced to 216 months (18 years) of imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release. The Chief Judge ordered that Lymon serve the 18-year prison sentence consecutive to the 20-year prison sentence previously imposed on April 5, 2017, on Lymon’s conviction on two felon in possession of firearms charges, for a total sentence of 38 years of imprisonment.

 

Lymon’s sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney, Special Agent in Charge Thomas G. Atteberry of the Phoenix Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of the El Paso Division of the DEA, and Chief Gorden E. Eden Jr., of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).

 

In announcing the sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney said, “The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted Davon Lymon on federal charges because as a community, we cannot and will not tolerate violence against law enforcement officers. The entire law enforcement community – federal, state, county, local and tribal – is committed to working collaboratively to thoroughly and completely investigate and prosecute those who seek to harm the courageous officers who put their lives on the line to protect us and safeguard our communities.”

 

“I wish to commend the investigative efforts of all our law enforcement partners involved in the federal prosecutions of Davon Lymon,” said Special Agent in Charge Thomas G. Atteberry of the Phoenix Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “I also wish to recognize the determination of the federal prosecutors assigned to this case and the leadership of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
 

“Today’s sentencing closes the door on the federal prosecutions of Davon Lymon,” said Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of the El Paso Division of the DEA. “DEA and its law enforcement partners are committed to working together to ensure that drug traffickers who use firearms to facilitate their drug trafficking activities and to commit other crimes face the consequences of their criminal activities.”

 

"We are very grateful for the hard work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly Brawley and Jacob Wishard of the U.S. Attorney’s office in the successful prosecution of Davon Lymon on federal charges,” said Chief Gorden E. Eden Jr., of the APD. “The federal convictions will ensure that Lymon remains behind bars until he can be prosecuted on his pending state charges.”

 

Lymon now stands convicted in two federal cases. The first indictment in the first case, filed on Nov. 27, 2015, charged Lymon with four counts of being a felon in possession of firearms and one count of possessing a stolen firearm (the firearms case). The indictment in the second case, filed on Dec. 2, 2015, charged Lymon with two heroin trafficking charges and a felon in possession of a firearm charge (the heroin trafficking case). At the time Lymon committed the crimes, he was prohibited from possessing firearms because of his prior felony convictions for voluntary manslaughter, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon resulting in great bodily harm, fraud, and forgery.

 

Lymon was convicted on two of the four charges in the firearms case. Chief U.S. District Judge Armijo found Lymon guilty on Count 4 of the four-count indictment on Oct. 28, 2016, following a bench trial on that charge alone. Count 4 charged Lymon with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition on Oct. 21, 2015, the day on which he allegedly shot Albuquerque Police Officer Daniel Webster. Officer Webster died on Oct. 29, 2015, due to injuries he allegedly sustained during the shooting, and Lymon has been charged with murdering Officer Webster in a separate state case. Lymon has entered a not guilty plea to the charges in the state case and is presumed innocent unless found guilty.

 

On Dec. 13, 2016, Lymon pled guilty to Count 2 of the indictment in the firearms case under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and admitted unlawfully possessing a firearm on May 27, 2016. As part of the plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office agreed to dismiss Count 1, charging Lymon with being a felon in possession of a firearm on May 27, 2015, and Count 3, of the indictment, charging Lymon with possessing a stolen firearm in May 2015.

 

The indictment in the second federal case charged Lymon with distributing heroin on Sept. 11, 2015 and Oct. 2, 2015, and unlawfully possessing a firearm on Oct. 2, 2015. Lymon pled guilty to the three charges in the heroin trafficking case on May 9, 2016, without the benefit of a plea agreement.

 

The Albuquerque office of ATF and APD investigated the firearms case, with assistance from the Albuquerque office of the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the New Mexico State Police, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the Rio Rancho Police Department and the New Mexico Transportation Police Division. The heroin trafficking case was investigated by the Albuquerque offices of ATF and DEA.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob A. Wishard and Kimberly A. Brawley prosecuted the two federal cases against Lymon as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders primarily based on their prior criminal convictions for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

ALBUQUERQUE – Miguel Ordonez, 24, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court to heroin trafficking charges.

 

Miguel Ordonez and his four co-defendants, Gonzalo Montenegro-Coronel, 31, a Mexican national, Esther Ordonez, 48, and Reydecel Lopez-Ordonez, 24, both of Albuquerque, and Fernando Gomez-Campos, 21, of El Paso, Tex., were charged in a 13-count indictment that was filed on Dec. 2, 2015. The indictment charged the defendants with participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy between Nov. 2014 and Sept. 2015, distributing heroin on eight occasions between Nov. 2014 and Sept. 2015, and with using telephones to facilitate drug trafficking crimes. It also charged Esther Ordonez, Miguel Ordonez and Montenegro-Coronel with maintaining a residence for the purpose of manufacturing and distributing heroin between Nov. 2014 and Sept. 2015. According to the indictment, the defendants committed the crimes in Bernalillo County, N.M.

 

During today’s proceedings, Miguel Ordonez pled guilty to two counts of distributing heroin, using a communication facility in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and maintaining a drug involved premises. In entering the guilty plea, Miguel Ordonez admitted participating in telephone communications on March 27, 2015, in order to arrange heroin sales with individuals who unbeknownst to him were undercover agents. Miguel Ordonez admitted selling 148 grams of heroin for $4,200 on March 27, 2015, and 98 grams of heroin for $3,200 on May 7, 2015, to the undercover agent. He also admitted that from Nov. 10, 2014 and until his arrest in July 2015, he helped others store heroin for distribution at 2620 Katrina Dr. SW in Albuquerque.

 

At sentencing, Miguel Ordonez faces a statutory penalty of not less than five years nor more than 40 years of imprisonment. He remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

 

To date, four of the five defendants have entered guilty pleas and one has been sentenced. Lopez-Ordonez pled guilty on Oct. 19, 2016, and was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment followed by four years of supervised release on March 30, 2017. Gomez-Campos pled guilty on March 10, 2017, and Esther Ordonez pled guilty on April 12, 2017. Gomez-Campos and Esther Ordonez have yet to be sentenced.

 

Montenegro-Coronel has entered a not guilty plea to the indictment and is pending trial. Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and the HIDTA Region I Drug Task Force as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program, which combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations. The HIDTA Region I Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Albuquerque Police Department, Rio Rancho Police Department, Valencia County Sheriff’s Office, Pueblo of Pojoaque Tribal Police Department and DEA. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shaheen P. Torgoley and Stephen R. Kotz are prosecuting this case as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities. Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico.

 

The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative. Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.

ALBUQUERQUE – Joaquin Archuleta, 41, of Santa Fe, N.M., pled guilty this morning in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to violating the federal firearms laws by unlawfully possessing a firearm. The plea agreement includes a recommendation that Archuleta be sentenced to 63 months of imprisonment followed by a period of supervised release to be determined by the court.

 

Archuleta was arrested on Nov. 9, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm on April 7, 2016, in Santa Fe County, N.M. Archuleta was indicted on the same charge on Dec. 7, 2016. According to the indictment, Archuleta was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted on two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance, and attempt to traffic a controlled substance.

 

During today’s proceedings, Archuleta pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on April 7, 2016, he threw a handgun into the backyard of a residence while attempting to flee from police. Archuleta also admitted knowing that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his prior felony convictions. Archuleta remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and the Santa Fe Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy S. Vasquez is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – The U.S. Attorney’s Office and UNM’s Health and Sciences Center are encouraging the public to participate in DEA’s 13th National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, April 29, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 pm as part of the prevention and education component of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative.

 

To raise public awareness about the nationwide event on April 29, 2017, the HOPE Initiative Partners and DEA are collaborating with the City of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County and Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC) in hosting a promotional Drug Take-Back event on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., during “Truckin’ Tuesday” in Civic Plaza. This promotional event will provide City and County employees and others who work in the downtown Albuquerque area with a safe, convenient and responsible way of disposing of unused, unwanted or expired medications.

 

During the last National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day in October 2016, Americans turned in 731, 269 pounds – almost 366 tons – of prescription drugs at almost 5,200 sites staffed by DEA and more than 4,000 of its state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Here in New Mexico, DEA and 50 law enforcement partners collected almost 4,400 pounds of medication at 79 collection sites throughout the state. Overall, in its 12 previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners have taken in over 7.1 million pounds – more than 3,500 tons – of pills.

 

“Many individuals are lured into believing that taking a prescription pill is a safe way to get high. But many prescription drugs are highly addictive and just as dangerous as any street drug, and just as deadly,” said Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy of DEA’s El Paso Division. “The death toll from prescription painkillers has tripled in the last decade, and the problem is getting worst. More people die each year from prescription painkiller overdoses than from heroin, cocaine or any other illegal drug. Proper disposal of your unwanted prescription drugs is a simple way to help prevent overdose deaths.”

 

“Teens and young adults are especially vulnerable because they begin abusing prescription drugs and turn to heroin for a cheaper high,” said Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney. “Every day, 2,500 teens take a prescription drug to get high for the first time, and 65% of teens get their drugs from a medicine cabinet at home or from a friend or relative. Too many kids are dying young. Protect our kids by properly disposing of your unused, unwanted and expired medicine.”

 

“The UNM Health Sciences Center enthusiastically supports National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day and thanks the Drug Enforcement Administration for its leadership in this important initiative,” said Dr. Paul B. Roth, Chancellor of UNM Health Sciences Center. “UNM Hospital and the UNM Police Department will do their part on April 29th by hosting a drive-thru take-back site in the shuttle lanes at UNMH, 2211 Lomas Blvd NW. We encourage community members to take this opportunity to dispose of unused prescription drugs to protect themselves, their families and our community.”

 

Unused medicines in the home are a problem because the majority of the 6.4 million Americans who abused prescription drugs in 2015, including almost 4 million who abused prescription painkillers, say they obtained those drugs from friends and family, including from a home medicine cabinet, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health released last month. Some painkiller abusers move on to heroin: four out of five new heroin users started with painkillers. Almost 30,000 people – 78 a day – died from overdosing on these painkillers or heroin in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

“Unused, unsecured prescription drugs, particularly opiates and benzodiazepines, can be stolen and diverted for illegal sale. This is not good for law enforcement and not good for our communities as we work to stem the tide of addictions,” said Bernalillo County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins. “Local governments are very grateful to DEA for their "take-back" initiative and other efforts to keep these illegal drugs off our streets.”

 

“Having unused medicines in your house is unsafe and dangerous as you never know who might get their hands on them,” said HAC Executive Director Jennifer Weiss-Burke. “There's no reason to hang on to leftover medicines, so take advantage of this opportunity to spring clean your medicine cabinet!”

 

Members of the public can find a nearby Prescription Drug Take-Back collection site by visiting www.dea.gov, clicking on the “Got Drugs?” icon, and entering their zip code into the search window, or they can call 800-882-9539. Only pills and other solids, like patches, will be accepted at DEA Drug Take Back collection sites – the public should not bring liquids, needles or other sharp items to take back sites. This service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

 

The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities. Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico. The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.

ALBUQUERQUE – This morning a U.S. Magistrate Judge sitting in Las Cruces, N.M., found probable cause to support a criminal complaint charging Larry Todd Hoffmeister, 51, of Columbus, N.M., with assaulting federal officers. Hoffmeister was released pending trial under pretrial supervision and other conditions of release.

 

Hoffmeister was arrested on April 12, 2017, and was charged by a criminal complaint with resisting and assaulting federal officers that same day in Luna County, N.M. The complaint alleges that Hoffmeister discharged his weapon twice while U.S. Border Patrol Agents were observing him near the west side of the Columbus Port of Entry.

 

If convicted of the charge in the complaint, Hoffmeister faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Charges in complaint are merely accusations. All criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the U.S Border Patrol and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal jury sitting in Albuquerque, N.M., returned a verdict late yesterday afternoon finding Jeffrey Antonio guilty of second-degree murder. The verdict was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney, Special Agent in Charge William McClure of District IV of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services, and Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales, III.

 

Antonio, 35, an enrolled member and resident of Laguna Pueblo, N.M., was indicted on March 23, 2016, on a second-degree murder charge. The indictment alleged that Antonio committed the offense on July 31, 2015, on the Sandia Pueblo Indian Reservation in Bernalillo County, N.M.

 

Antonio’s trial began on April 17, 2017, and concluded yesterday afternoon when the jury returned a guilty verdict on the sole count of the indictment. The evidence at trial established that on July 31, 2015, Antonio was driving a truck on the Sandia Pueblo Indian Reservation when he swerved into oncoming traffic and crashed head-on into another vehicle, injuring the driver and killing the passenger. Law enforcement officers who responded to the scene of the crash observed a cold four-pack of beer in Antonio’s truck that was missing two cans and noted that Antonio smelled of alcohol. The results of a blood test at a hospital following the crash revealed that Antonio had a BAC of .19.

 

During the trial, the jury learned that Antonio has two prior convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol; one in 2008 and another in 2011, which required that Antonio complete a first offender program. The program incorporates educational aspects of the risks associated with driving while impaired.

 

The jury deliberated less than two hours before returning a guilty verdict.

 

Antonio has been in federal custody since his arrest on March 28, 2016, and will remain detained pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. At sentencing, Antonio faces a statutory maximum penalty of life in prison.

 

This case was investigated by the Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Spindle and Michael D. Murphy are prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Rumaldo Olivas, 27, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to an 84-month prison term followed by four years of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.

 

Olivas was arrested during an ATF-led investigation that resulted in the filing of 59 federal indictments and a federal criminal complaint charging 104 Bernalillo County residents with federal firearms and narcotics trafficking offenses. The investigation began in mid-April 2016, when ATF personnel from throughout the country joined forces with federal, state, county and local law enforcement agencies in New Mexico to combat the high rate of violent crime in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. The investigators utilized a number of investigative techniques, including undercover operations, historical investigation and targeting of multi-convicted felons in possession of firearms.

 

The investigation was undertaken in support of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies collaborate with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution primarily based on their prior criminal convictions with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

 

Olivas was arrested in Aug. 2016, on an indictment charging him with distribution of methamphetamine on July 27, 2016, in Bernalillo County, N.M. The indictment included forfeiture provisions requiring Olivas to forfeit $1,000. On Jan. 18, 2017, Olivas entered a guilty plea to the indictment under a plea agreement with the United States.

 

To date, 43 of the 104 defendants have entered guilty pleas, and 16 have been sentenced. The remaining defendants have entered not guilty pleas. Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of ATF and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Letitia C. Simms.

ALBUQUERQUE –William Allen Patterson, 34, of Alamogordo, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 78 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release for his child pornography conviction. Patterson will be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.

 

Patterson was arrested on August 10, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with possessing and receiving visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit activity from 2002 to 2012 and Aug. 10, 2016, in Otero County, N.M. The investigation into Patterson began in Aug. 2016, after Patterson admitted to a polygraph examiner that he was addicted to child pornography while undergoing a polygraph examination as part of the application process to be a Border Patrol Agent. On Aug. 9, 2016, law enforcement searched Patterson’s residence and found a hard drive containing at least 10,000 images of child pornography.

 

On Jan. 5, 2017, Patterson pled guilty to a felony information charging him with receiving child pornography. In entering the guilty plea, Patterson admitted that on Aug. 9, 2016, he possessed a hard drive that contained numerous images and videos of child pornography which he had downloaded from the internet.

 

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of Homeland Security Investigations and the Las Cruces Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Ong of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.

 

The case also was brought as a part of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force’s mission, which is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico. There are 82 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General. Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.

ALBUQUERQUE – Michael Ellis Treas-Baca, 31, an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Nation who resides in Mescalero, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 78 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his conviction on a sexual abuse charge. Treas-Baca will be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.

 

Treas-Baca was arrested on April 7, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with sexually abusing a Mescalero Apache woman on Sept. 13, 2015, on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation in Otero County, N.M.

 

On Nov. 16, 2016, Treas-Baca pled guilty to a felony information charging him with sexual abuse. In entering the guilty plea, Treas-Baca admitted that on Sept. 13, 2016, he sexually abused the victim while she was unconscious and physically incapable of declining participating in the sexual act.

 

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the Mescalero Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office as part of the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico, which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native American women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.

ALBUQUERQUE – Leticia Maria Rodriguez, 35, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 51 months in prison for her methamphetamine trafficking conviction. She will be on supervised release for three years after completing her prison sentence.

 

Rodriguez was arrested in March 2016, and was charged by criminal complaint with possessing methamphetamine and heroin with intent to distribute and conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute on March 4, 2016, in Dona Ana County, N.M. According to the complaint, law enforcement agents located approximately 75.7 grams of methamphetamine, 43.3 grams of heroin and drug paraphernalia during the execution of a search warrant on Rodriguez’s residence.

 

Rodriguez pled guilty on May 10, 2016, to a felony information charging her with conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Rodriguez admitted that on March 4, 2016, law enforcement located approximately 65.8 grams of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in her residence during the execution of a search warrant. Rodriguez further admitted that she obtained the methamphetamine from a source of supply and intended to distribute the methamphetamine to other individuals.

 

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces offices of Homeland Security Investigations and DEA. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Saltman of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – A U.S. Magistrate Judge sitting in Albuquerque, N.M., yesterday found probable cause to support a criminal complaint charging Isaac Joseph Dodge, 41, of Albuquerque, with armed bank robbery offenses. During the proceedings, Dodge waived his right to a detention hearing and was ordered to remain in custody pending trial.

 

Dodge was arrested on April 13, 2017, on a criminal complaint charging him with committing two armed bank robberies in Bernalillo County, N.M. The complaint alleges that Dodge robbed the BBVA Compass Bank located at 1201 San Pedro Drive NE in Albuquerque on March 7, 2017. According to the complaint, Dodge robbed the bank by brandishing a handgun, restraining a bank customer against her will while holding a gun to her head, and demanding money from two bank tellers. The complaint also alleges that Dodge robbed the US Bank branch located at 1418 Carlisle Boulevard NE in Albuquerque on April 4, 2017.

 

If convicted, Dodge faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in federal prison on each armed bank robbery charge. If the court determines that Dodge is subject to the three strikes enhancement based on his prior felony convictions, he faces a mandatory term of life imprisonment upon conviction. Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI and the Albuquerque Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard R. Thomas is prosecuting the case under a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders primarily based on their prior criminal convictions for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

ALBUQUERQUE – Ruben David Martinez, III, 29, of Truth or Consequences, N.M., was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 39 months in prison for his conviction on methamphetamine trafficking charges. Martinez will be on supervised release for three years following his prison sentence.

 

Martinez was arrested in May 2016, and was charged by criminal complaint with possessing methamphetamine and heroin with intent to distribute. According to the criminal complaint, Martinez committed the offenses on May 16, 2016, in Sierra County, N.M., by throwing plastic bags containing more than 40 grams of methamphetamine and 9.22 grams of heroin from his vehicle while fleeing from law enforcement officers who were attempting to execute a traffic stop on his vehicle. After the officers arrested Martinez, they executed a search warrant on his vehicle and residence and seized an additional 69.8 grams of methamphetamine, pills, multiple cellular phones, cash and drug paraphernalia.

 

On Aug. 30, 2016, Martinez pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Martinez admitted that on May 16, 2016, he possessed approximately 49 grams of methamphetamine when Sierra County Sheriff’s Office deputies initiated a traffic stop on his vehicle. Martinez also acknowledged that he intended to distribute the methamphetamine to other people.

 

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of Homeland Security Investigations, the New Mexico State Police and the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Beck of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Firas Abuzuhrieh, 40, an Israeli national who is legal permanent resident residing in Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today in Santa Fe, N.M., to 30 months of imprisonment for his conviction on federal synthetic drug trafficking charges. Abuzuhrieh will be deported after completing his prison sentence.

 

Abuzuhrieh was the owner of the Ace Smoke Shop & Hookah Lounge (Smoke Shop) located on Juan Tabo Blvd. NE in Albuquerque, when he and his employee Islam Kandil, 42, an Egyptian national residing in Albuquerque, were arrested on Sept. 23, 2014, on a criminal complaint with trafficking in synthetic cannabinoids, more commonly known as “spice.” Abruzuhrieh and Kandil subsequently were charged in a three-count indictment with conspiracy to distribute “spice” and with distributing “spice.”

 

According to the indictment, the two men conspired to sell “spice” in Bernalillo County from Aug. 14, 2014 to Aug. 18, 2014. It also charged Kandil with selling “spice” to an undercover DEA agent at the Smoke Shop on Aug. 14, 2014, and that Abuzuhrieh sold “spice” to an undercover DEA agent at the Smoke Shop on Aug. 18, 2014.

 

The indictment was superseded in July 2015 to expand the time frame of the conspiracy to cover the period between Aug. 14, 2014 and Sept. 22, 2014. The superseding indictment also added three counts of possession of “spice” with intent to distribute against Abuzuhrieh.

 

Kandil pled guilty on Sept. 22, 2015, to an information charging him with delivery of misbranded food, drugs, or tobacco products into interstate commerce. Kandil was also sentenced on Sept. 22, 2015, to time served to be followed by a year of supervised release.

 

Abuzuhrieh elected to proceed to trial on the five-count superseding indictment, which concluded on Aug. 27, 2015, when the jury returned a verdict finding him guilty on all five counts. The evidence at trial established that Abuzuhrieh sold “spice” to an undercover DEA agent on Aug. 18, 2014. It also established that on Sept. 22, 2014, when DEA agents arrested Abuzuhrieh, he was in possession of a key that opened a suite located in the same complex as the Smoke Shop. When the agents searched the Smoke Shop and the suite, they found approximately 62 kilograms of “spice,” inclusive of packaging.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer M. Rozzoni and Shana B. Long.

 

The controlled substance analogues charged in the indictment are commonly referred to as synthetic cannabinoids or “spice.” According to the DEA, over the past several years, there has been a growing use of synthetic cannabinoids. Smoke-able herbal blends marketed as being “legal” and providing a marijuana-like high have become increasingly popular because they are easily available and, in many cases, more potent and dangerous than marijuana. These products consist of plant material that has been coated with dangerous psychoactive compounds that mimic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. These substances, however, have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for human consumption, and there is no oversight of the manufacturing process. Synthetic cannabinoids often are labeled as incense to mask their intended purpose.

ALBUQUERQUE – Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney, Special Agent in Charge Waldemar Rodriguez of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, Texas, and Chief Gorden G. Eden, Jr., of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), announced that Shane Roach, 27, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced last week in federal court for his conviction on a commercial sex trafficking charge.

 

Senior U.S. District Judge James A. Parker sentenced Roach on April 13, 2017, to a fifteen-year term of imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release. Roach also was ordered to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.

 

Roach was arrested on July 1, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with commercial sex trafficking. Roach subsequently was indicted and charged with using force, threats of threats, and coercion to force a victim to engage in commercial sex acts. The indictment charged Roach with committing the crime between May and June of 2015 in Bernalillo County, N.M.

 

Roach went to trial on the indictment on Oct. 4, 2016, and the jury returned a guilty verdict on Oct. 7, 2016.

 

During the trial, the victim told the jury that in early 2015, she was a heroin addict who turned to prostitution to support her heroin habit. The victim met Roach in late April 2015, and turned to him for help shortly thereafter when she fell on hard times. For the next month and a half, Roach was the victim’s pimp and forced her to engage in prostitution. The victim said that, during that time, Roach forced her to engage in sex with men four or five times a day, and that Roach kept all her earnings, amounting to $400.00 to $500.00 a day. The victim also testified that Roach beat her on a number of occasions, brandished a firearm at her, and threatened to harm her family if she left him. During the month and a half during which she was sex trafficked by Roach, the victim had only three or four days off.

 

An APD detective testified at trial that on May 27, 2015, while acting in an undercover capacity, he arranged to meet the victim at an Albuquerque-area hotel after getting her contact information from an online prostitution advertisement. The meeting was brief because the victim recognized the detective’s partner, who was outside, as a police officer, and told the undercover officer that there were officers outside. The undercover officer testified that, on June 10, 2015, APD received a call for help from the victim and he was one of the officers who responded. During that meeting, the victim told APD that she was being sex trafficked by Roach, and the investigation leading to Roach’s conviction began that day.

 

Roach testified in his own defense. While generally acknowledging that he was the victim’s pimp, Roach denied using threats of force, force or coercion to force to the victim to engage in commercial sex acts.

 

This case was investigated by the HSI office in Albuquerque and APD’s Vice Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Norman Cairns and Kimberly A. Brawley prosecuted the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Joshua Sedillo, 30, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court to a methamphetamine trafficking charge.

 

Sedillo and his co-defendant Ramon Quezada, 32, were arrested during an ATF-led investigation that resulted in the filing of 59 federal indictments and a federal criminal complaint charging 104 Bernalillo County residents with federal firearms and narcotics trafficking offenses. The investigation began in mid-April 2016, when ATF personnel from throughout the country joined forces with federal, state, county and local law enforcement agencies in New Mexico to combat the high rate of violent crime in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. The investigators utilized a number of investigative techniques, including undercover operations, historical investigation and targeting of multi-convicted felons in possession of firearms.

 

The investigation was undertaken in support of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies collaborate with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution primarily based on their prior criminal convictions with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

 

Sedillo and Quezada were arrested in July 2016, on an indictment charging them with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on May 11, 2016, and Sedillo individually with distribution of methamphetamine on May 25, 2016. According to the indictment, the offenses took place in Bernalillo County, N.M.

 

During today’s proceedings, Sedillo pled guilty to the indictment charging him with distributing methamphetamine on May 11, 2016 and May 25, 2016. Sedillo entered the guilty plea without the benefit of a plea agreement. At sentencing, Sedillo faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of 40 years in prison. Sedillo remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.

 

To date, 43 of the 104 defendants have entered guilty pleas, including Quezada, and 15 have been sentenced. The remaining defendants have entered not guilty pleas. Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of ATF and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Wishard.

ALBUQUERQUE – Fabrienne Rosalinda Morales, 40, of Peralta, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 18 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for her heroin trafficking conviction.

 

Morales and her and co-defendant Christopher Gonzales, 20, of Rio Rancho, N.M., were arrested in Jan. 2016, on a five-count indictment charging Morales and Gonzales with conspiracy, Gonzales with possessing heroin and Suboxone with intent to distribute, and Morales with distributing heroin and Suboxone. The indictment was superseded on Feb. 9, 2016, to add a third defendant, Ismael Vargas, 29, of Belen, N.M., to the conspiracy charge. According to the superseding indictment, the three defendants committed the crimes charged on Aug. 2, 2015, in Sandoval County, N.M. At the time, Gonzales was a corrections officer at the Sandoval County Detention Center.

 

On Jan. 13, 2017, Morales pled guilty to distributing heroin. In entering the guilty plea, Morales admitted that on Aug. 2, 2015, she took heroin to the Sandoval County Detention Center and gave it to a corrections officer.

 

On March 9, 2017, Vargas pled guilty to Count 1 of the superseding indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute heroin. In entering the guilty plea, Vargas admitted that on Aug. 2, 2015, while he was an inmate at the Sandoval County Detention Center, he arranged for heroin to be delivered to the jail. Vargas further admitted that he facilitated the payment of money to a corrections officer to get the heroin into the jail. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Vargas faces up to 41 months in federal prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court. Vargas is currently scheduled for sentencing on June 14, 2017.

 

On Feb. 28, 2017, Gonzales pled guilty to possessing heroin with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Gonzales admitted that on Aug. 2, 2015, while he was working as an officer at the Sandoval County Detention Center, he brought heroin to the Detention Center with the intention of delivering it to an inmate. A sentencing hearing for Gonzales is currently scheduled for May 31, 2017.

 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Han is prosecuting the case as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities. Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico.

 

The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative. Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.