Felon from Carlsbad Sentenced to Prison for Violating Federal Firearms Laws

ALBUQUERQUE – Miguel Molina, 36, of Carlsbad, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 37 months in prison for unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition. Molina will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

Molina was arrested in July 2016, on an indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition on May 6, 2015, in Eddy County, N.M. According to the indictment, Molina was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his prior conviction for distributing marijuana.

On Nov. 17, 2016, Molina entered a guilty plea to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin C. Segovia of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.

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.