Georgia Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug Trafficking Charges in New Mexico Arising Out of Ten Pound Meth Seizure

ALBUQUERQUE –Timothy Wayne McGahee, 22, of Flowery Branch, Ga., pled guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to methamphetamine trafficking charges under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

McGahee was arrested on Oct. 23, 2016, on a criminal complaint alleging that he possessed approximately 10.4 pounds of methamphetamine. According to the complaint, McGahee was arrested, after U.S. Border Patrol agents at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint west of Alamogordo, N.M., seized the methamphetamine from McGahee’s vehicle.

McGahee was indicted on March 22, 2017, and charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on Oct. 23, 2016, in Otero County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, McGahee pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on Oct. 23, 2016, U.S. Border Patrol Agents located methamphetamine concealed in a cooler in the trunk of McGahee’s vehicle at the Border Patrol checkpoint on High 54 in Otero County. McGahee further admitted that he intended to deliver the methamphetamine to other individuals within the United States in exchange for money.

At sentencing, McGahee faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum of life in federal prison. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol and the Las Cruces office of the DEA. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Clara Cobos of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.