Grant County Man Sentenced to Prison for Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Ruben James Torrez, 31, of Hurley, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 60 months in prison for his conviction on a methamphetamine trafficking charge.  Torrez will be on supervised release for four years after completing his prison sentence. 

The DEA arrested Torrez on June 23, 2017, on a criminal complaint charging him with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute on April 24, 2017, in Grant County, N.M.  According to the complaint, Torrez was arrested after the Silver City Police Department and the DEA found approximately 58.01 grams of methamphetamine in his vehicle while executing a search warrant.

 On Aug. 8, 2017, Torrez pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  In entering the guilty plea, Torrez admitted that on March 30, 2017, he agreed to sell methamphetamine to an individual, who unbeknownst to him, was working with law enforcement authorities.  Torrez acknowledged that before he arrived at the location for the drug transaction, Silver City Police Department officers stopped him and executed a search warrant on his vehicle, and found the methamphetamine that he intended to sell to the individual working with law enforcement.

This case was investigated by the DEA and the Silver City Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Clara Cobos of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.