Artesia Man Sentenced for Violating Federal Narcotics Trafficking and Firearms Laws

ALBUQUERQUE – Angel Guadalupe Ochoa, 38, of Artesia, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 120 months in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking and firearms convictions.

Ochoa was arrested on Feb. 28, 2014, on a criminal complaint alleging that he possessed methamphetamine with intent to distribute in Eddy County, N.M., on Feb. 20, 2014.  He subsequently was indicted on May 14, 2014.

The four- count indictment charges Ochoa with distribution of methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and being a felon in possession of firearms. At the time of his arrest, Ochoa was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of possession of methamphetamine and distribution of marijuana.

Ochoa pled guilty to the indictment on July 7, 2014, and admitted that on Feb. 20, 2014, he sold approximately one ounce of methamphetamine to another person in Carlsbad, N.M.  Ochoa also admitted that on Feb. 28, 2014, agents executed a search warrant at his residence where they located approximately two ounces of methamphetamine and three firearms, and that at the time of his arrest he was prohibited from possessing a firearm and ammunition because he previously had been convicted of a felony.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA, the New Mexico State Police and the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee L. Camacho of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

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.