Arizona Man Pleads Guilty to Methamphetamine Trafficking Charges in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE – Charles Douglas Notbohm, Jr., 50, of Tucson, Ariz., pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to methamphetamine trafficking charges.  

Notbohm was arrested in Lordsburg, N.M., on Feb. 21, 2014, after officers executed a search warrant on the vehicle in which he were traveling and found more than 116 grams of methamphetamine.  On May 21, 2014, Notbohm and a co-defendant, James Richard Reeves, 46, also of Tucson, were indicted and charged with conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  On July 16, 2014, Notbohm, Reeves and a third co-defendant, Armando Conrad Gonzales, 33, of Las Cruces, NM, were charged in a superseding indictment with conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  The superseding indictment also charged Gonzales with being a felon in possession of a firearm.  

Today, Notbohm pled guilty to a felony information charging him with conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  In entering his guilty plea, Notbohm admitted that on Feb. 21, 2014, he and Reeves were driving from Tucson to Las Cruces for the purpose of delivering methamphetamine to a co-conspirator.  He further admitted that as the two men were driving through Lordsburg, they were stopped by a police officer who found more than 116 grams of methamphetamine in their vehicle.

Notbohm has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  At sentencing, he faces a prison sentence of not more than twenty years in prison.

Reeves was arrested on May 22, 2014, and pled guilty to the two methamphetamine trafficking charges in in the superseding indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement on Sept. 18, 2014.  He has been in custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.  At sentencing, Reeves faces a sentence of not less than five years and not more than 40 years in prison.

Gonzales was arrested on May 13, 2014, and remains in custody pending trial.  He has entered a not guilty plea to the charges in the superseding indictment.  Charges in the indictment are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

This case was investigated by Deming office of Homeland Security Investigations and the Lordsburg Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna R. Wright of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.