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Press Release
Press Release
ALBUQUERQUE – Gilbert Dutchover, 58, of Roswell, N.M., was sentenced this morning in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to an 18-month term of imprisonment for violating the federal firearms laws. Dutchover will be on supervised release for two years after completing his prison sentence.
Dutchover was arrested on May 5, 2017, on an indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition on Aug. 18, 2014, in Chaves County, N.M. According to the indictment, Dutchover previously was convicted of unlawful carrying of a firearm into a licensed liquor establishment, being a felon in possession of a firearm or destructive device, receiving stolen property, and cocaine trafficking.
On July 10, 2017, Dutchover pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on Aug. 18, 2014, law enforcement officers found a pistol and ammunition in his garage while executing a search warrant at his residence. Dutchover further admitted that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his status as a convicted felon.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office and the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Luis A. Martinez and Selesia L. Winston 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.