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Press Release

Hobbs Man Pleads Guilty to Violating Federal Drug Trafficking and Firearms Laws

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico
Plea Agreement Recommends 15-Year Prison Sentence

ALBUQUERQUE – Robert Pena, 38, of Hobbs, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to violating the federal drug trafficking and firearms laws.  Pena’s plea agreement recommends a prison sentence of 15 years followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

Pena was charged with federal drug trafficking and firearms offenses in a federal criminal complaint filed on April 26, 2018, and was arrested on May 8, 2018, after he was transferred from state custody to federal custody.  According to the criminal complaint, Hobbs Police Department (HPD) officers arrested Pena in Jan. 2018, after finding a firearm and ammunition, approximately 152 grams (5.3 ounces) of methamphetamine, a small amount of cocaine and marijuana, and drug paraphernalia in Pena’s vehicle while executing a search warrant following a routine traffic stop.

A federal grand jury indicted Pena on July 18, 2018, and charged him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.  According to the indictment, Pena committed the offenses on Jan. 25, 2018, in Lea County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, Pena pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that HPD officers stopped him on Jan. 25, 2018, because of a brake light malfunction on his vehicle, and during a canine sniff search, the narcotics canine alerted to the presence of drugs in his vehicle.  Pena further admitted that the HPD officers subsequently found approximately 146.3 grams of pure methamphetamine and a loaded firearm in his vehicle during the execution of a search warrant.  Pena admitted that he intended to distribute the methamphetamine to others in exchange for money, and that he carried the loaded firearm to protect himself and the drugs in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities. 

Pena has been in custody since his state arrest in Jan. 2018, and will remain in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the DEA, the Hobbs Police Department, and the Lea County Drug Task Force with assistance from the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.  Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joni Autrey of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

The Lea County Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Lea County Sheriff’s Office, Hobbs Police Department, Lovington Police Department, Eunice Police Department the Tatum Police Department and the Jal Police Department, and is part of the NM 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.

Updated October 11, 2018

Topics
Drug Trafficking
Firearms Offenses