Skip to main content
Press Release

Hobbs Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Federal Prison for Methamphetamine Trafficking Conviction

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE – Donald Keith Colvin, 40, of Hobbs, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon in Las Cruces federal court to 121 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.  Colvin’s sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales, 5th Judicial District Attorney Janetta B. Hicks, Thomas G. Atteberry, Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit of the DEA’s El Paso Field Division, and Commander Michael Wilson of the Lea County HIDTA Drug Task Force.

Colvin was arrested on Oct. 9, 2012, on a criminal complaint alleging that he unlawfully possessed firearms in Lea County, N.M., on Sept. 14, 2012.  Colvin was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of involuntary manslaughter and negligent use of a deadly weapon.  On Jan. 16, 2013, Colvin entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and was remanded into federal custody.

According to court filings, on Sept. 14, 2012, the Lea County HIDTA Drug Task Force executed a state search warrant at Colvin’s residence in Hobbs.  During the execution of the search warrant, the officers seized 59.91 net grams of methamphetamine which were found in Colvin’s bedroom and in a safe in his bathroom.  The officers also seized four operational firearms, including a loaded Smith & Wesson .38 special revolver, and a non-operational firearm from Colvin’s bedroom.  Colvin was arrested on state charges, which were dismissed after his arrest on federal charges.

“I want to commend all of the hard work of the officers and prosecutors in this case,” said District Attorney Janetta B. Hicks.  “It is that kind of cooperation between local law enforcement and our federal partners that make our community safer.”

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces offices of ATF and DEA and the Lea County HIDTA Drug Task Force, with assistance from officers of the Lea County Sheriff’s Department and the Hobbs Police Department, and was prosecuted by Senior Litigation Counsel Terri L. Abernathy of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office. 

The Lea County HIDTA Task Force is comprised of officers from the Lea County Sheriff’s Department, Hobbs Police Department, Eunice Police Department, Jal Police Department, Lovington Police Department and Tatum Police Department.  It is part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program which 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 January 26, 2015