Artesia Man Pleads Guilty to Violating the Federal Drug and Firearm Laws

ALBUQUERQUE – Martin O. Madrid, 25, of Artesia, N.M., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to methamphetamine trafficking and firearms charges.

            Madrid and a co-defendant, Lillian Crosby, 21, of Hope, N.M., were federally charged in Jan. 2015, in a criminal complaint with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  According to the criminal complaint, the two were arrested on related state charges on July 12, 2014, by the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office after deputies found approximately 125 grams of methamphetamine, several scales and pipes, and other drug paraphernalia in a vehicle driven by Madrid with Crosby as his passenger.  Madrid was arrested on the federal complaint in Jan. 2015, and Crosby was arrested in Feb. 2015.

            During today’s plea hearing, Madrid entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Madrid admitted that on July 12, 2014, he and his co-defendant were in a vehicle that contained approximately 125 grams of methamphetamine that he intended to distribute to others.  He also admitted possessing a .40 caliber pistol which he was not permitted to possess because he previously had been convicted of a felony.

            At sentencing, Madrid faces a statutory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison followed by a minimum of four years of supervised release.  He remains detained pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

            Crosby has entered a plea of not guilty to the criminal complaint.  Charges in complaints are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  A trial date has yet to be scheduled.

            This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA, the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force and the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Edwin Garreth Winstead, III, of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch office is prosecuting this case.

The Pecos Valley Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office, the Artesia Police Department and the Carlsbad 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.