Roswell Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Charge

ALBUQUERQUE – Albert Johnny Mondragon, 38, of Roswell, N.M., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to trafficking methamphetamine in Lea County, N.M.

Mondragon was arrested on federal charges in Roswell on May 27, 2014, based on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  According to the complaint, Mondragon committed the offense on March 7, 2014, in Hobbs, N.M. 

Mondragon subsequently was charged in a two-count indictment with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and being a felon in possession of a firearm.   Count 1 of the indictment alleged that on March 7, 2014, Mondragon possessed with intent to distribute methamphetamine in Lea County.  Count 2 charged Mondragon with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Today, Mondragon pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  In entering the guilty plea, Mondragon admitted that he was stopped by officers in Hobbs on March 7, 2014.  He further admitted telling the officers that he had approximately half a pound of methamphetamine in the back of his vehicle.  When the officers searched the vehicle, they found 222.98 grams of methamphetamine.

At sentencing Mondragon faces a term of imprisonment if not less than five years and not more than 40 years.  He remains detained pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled. 

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces offices of the DEA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Lea County Drug Task Force, with assistance from the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Terri J. Abernathy of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting this 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 and the Jal 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.