Farmington Man Sentenced to Prison for Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Rupesh Bhakta, 39, of Farmington, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 24 months in prison for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction. He will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

Bhakta was arrested on March 4, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with trafficking methamphetamine in San Juan County, N.M. According to the complaint, Bhakta sold approximately 57 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent on Feb. 16, 2016.

Bhakta and co-defendant David Kingsbeck, 43, also of Farmington, were subsequently indicted on March 23, 2016. The indictment charged Kingsbeck with being a felon in possession of a firearm on July 1, 2015 and Dec. 30, 2015, and distributing heroin on Dec. 30, 2015. It also charged and Kingsbeck with conspiracy and distributing methamphetamine on Feb. 16, 2016. According to the indictment, the defendants committed the crimes in San Juan County. Kingsbeck was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because of his prior felony convictions for criminal conspiracy theft and escape attempt from felony.

On Dec. 8, 2016, Bhakta pled guilty to an information charging him with distributing methamphetamine. In entering the guilty plea, Bhakta admitted that on Feb. 16, 2016, he distributed methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent.

On Dec. 19, 2016, Kingsbeck pled guilty to distributing heroin and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. In his plea agreement, Kingsbeck admitted selling 12.8 grams of heroin and a firearm and ammunition to an undercover law enforcement agent on Dec. 29, 2015. Kingsbeck acknowledged that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition on Dec. 29, 2015, because of his status as a convicted felon. Kingsbeck was sentenced on May 1, 2017, to 37 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and the New Mexico State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rumaldo R. Armijo prosecuted the case.