El Paso, Texas Man Sentenced to 63 Months for Federal Drug Trafficking Conviction in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE – Christopher Joshua Cortes, 33, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 63 months in prison for his conviction on a methamphetamine trafficking charge.  Cortes will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

Cortes was arrested on April 17, 2017, on an indictment charging him with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine from March 2016 through June 2016, and distributing methamphetamine on June 6, 2016.  According to the indictment, Cortes committed the offenses in Dona Ana County, N.M.  The indictment included forfeiture provisions requiring Cortes to forfeit $6,500, the money involved in the drug transaction, to the United States.

On Aug. 2, 2017, Cortes pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and admitted that he voluntarily agreed with others to distribute methamphetamine in Dona Ana County from about March 13, 2016 through June 6, 2016.  Cortes further admitted distributing approximately 407 grams of pure methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent on June 6, 2016.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Clara Cobos of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.