California Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Cocaine Trafficking Conviction in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE – Gilbert Rosales, 43, of Dinuba, Calif., was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 60 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for his cocaine trafficking conviction.

Rosales and his co-defendant Oscar Casillas-Nunez, were arrested in Oct. 2013, on a criminal complaint charging them with conspiracy to distribute cocaine after DEA agents found approximately 4.6 kilograms of cocaine in their baggage during an interdiction investigation at the Amtrak Train Station in Albuquerque on Oct. 16, 2013.  Both men were indicted Oct. 30, 2013, and charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute in Bernalillo County, N.M.

On March 27, 2015, Rosales pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on Oct. 16, 2013, he and Casillas-Nunez transported cocaine while traveling through Albuquerque on the Amtrak Train.  Rosales further admitted that when the pair arrived in Albuquerque, he left the train to avoid police, and when police questioned Casillas-Nunez he abandoned the bag the cocaine was in and did not return to the train.

Casillas-Nunez has entered a plea of not guilty to the complaint and indictment and is currently scheduled for trial in Nov. 2015.  Charges in criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the Interdiction Unit of the DEA’s Albuquerque office which focuses on disrupting the flow of narcotics, weapons, and the proceeds of illegal activities as they are smuggled into or through New Mexico in passenger buses, passenger trains, commercial vehicles and automobiles.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Mysliwiec is prosecuting the case.