Carlsbad Man Pleads Guilty to Violating Federal Narcotics Trafficking and Firearms Laws

ALBUQUERQUE – Jacob J. Loredo, 29, of Carlsbad, N.M., pled guilty yesterday in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to violating federal firearms and drug trafficking laws.

Loredo was arrested on Feb. 19, 2015, and charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute in Eddy County, N.M.  According to the criminal complaint, on that day, agents with the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force executed a search warrant on Loredo’s residence and vehicle where they seized ammunition, two firearms, $4,955.00 in cash, approximately an ounce of methamphetamine, scales and other drug paraphernalia.  According to court documents, at the time, Loredo was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of possession of cocaine, a felony offense.

During yesterday’s proceedings, Loredo pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and being a felon in possession of a firearm.  Loredo admitted that on Feb. 19, 2015, law enforcement officers recovered methamphetamine and two firearms from his residence in Carlsbad.

At sentencing, Loredo faces a statutory minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison followed by not less than four years of supervised release.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Loredo also is required to forfeit the $4,995.00 seized from this residence as well as the firearms and ammunition.  Loredo remains detained pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.  

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA and the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander B. Shapiro 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.