Carlsbad Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Federal Prison for Methamphetamine Trafficking Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Eric Lee Crabb, 42, of Carlsbad, N.M., was sentenced this morning in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to ten years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.   The sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Steven C. Yarbrough, Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit of the DEA’s El Paso Division, and Commander Carroll Caudill of the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force.

Crabb was arrested on Jan. 14, 2013, on a federal criminal complaint alleging methamphetamine trafficking charges.  He has been in federal custody since that time.  According to the complaint, Crabb was arrested outside a Carlsbad motel on Dec. 27, 2012, for violating the conditions of his supervised release.  Officers found that Crabb was in possession of methamphetamine when they searched him following his arrest.  Officers found additional methamphetamine when they searched Crabb’s motel room and vehicle.

On April 11, 2013, Crabb entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  In entering his guilty plea, Crabb admitted giving officers permission to search his motel room and vehicle on Dec. 27, 2012.  Crabb also admitted that the 136.16 grams of pure methamphetamine seized by the officers during those searches belonged to him and that he intended to distribute the drugs.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA 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.