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Press Release

Curry County Woman Sentenced to 78 Months in Federal Prison for Methamphetamine Trafficking Conviction

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE – Tina Tafoya, 33, of Deming, N.M., was sentenced today in Albuquerque, N.M., to 78 months in prison for her methamphetamine trafficking conviction.  Tafoya will be on supervised release for five years after completing her prison sentence.

Tafoya and her three co-defendants, Christopher Jason Kidd, 38, Jeanette Driever, 37, and John Jesse Perez, Jr., 46,  all of Clovis, N.M., were indicted in Feb. 2014, on federal methamphetamine trafficking charges.  Count 1 of the three-count indictment charged the four defendants with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine in Curry County, N.M., between Sept. 2013 and Nov. 2013.  Count 2 charged Kidd and Tafoya with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on Nov. 6, 2013.  Count 3 charged Driever and Perez with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute also on Nov. 6, 2013.

According to court filings, during the course of the conspiracy charged in the indictment, Kidd and Tafoya supplied quantities of methamphetamine to others, including Driever and Perez, who resold the drugs in smaller quantities to users.  On Nov. 9, 2013, Kidd and Tafoya supplied a pound of methamphetamine to Driever and Perez.  On that day, Kidd and Tafoya possessed another half-pound of methamphetamine at their residence.  The methamphetamine was seized later that day pursuant to search warrants.

Tafoya pleaded guilty to participating in a methamphetamine conspiracy on Dec. 17, 2014.  Kidd entered a guilty plea on Nov. 17, 2014, and admitted that he conspired with his co-defendants to distribute methamphetamine in Curry County. Kidd was sentenced on June 16, 2015, to 78 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

Driever and Perez entered guilty pleas to federal drug trafficking charges on Nov. 20, 2014.  Both pled guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Curry County.  Driever and Perez remain in federal custody pending their sentencing hearings, which have not been scheduled.  Under the terms of their plea agreements, Driever will be sentenced to 60 months and Perez will be sentenced to 36 months.  Each will serve a five-year term of supervised release after completing his or her prison sentence.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces Agency Office of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division, the Region V Drug Task Force and the New Mexico State Police, with assistance from the Ninth Judicial District Attorney’s Office.  The Region V Drug Task Force is comprised of the Clovis Police Department, the Portales Police Department, Curry County Sheriff’s Office and the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Jon Ganjei is prosecuting the case.

Updated July 23, 2015