Roswell Man Sentenced to Five Years for Federal Drug Trafficking Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Joseph Vallejos, 25, of Roswell, N.M., was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 60 months in prison for his conviction on methamphetamine trafficking charges.  Vallejos will be on supervised release for four years after completing his prison sentence.

Vallejos and co-defendant Renee Rodriguez, 33, also of Roswell, were charged in a criminal complaint filed in Sept. 2015, with conspiracy, distribution of methamphetamine, and firearms offenses in Chaves County, N.M.  According to the criminal complaint, Vallejos and Rodriguez sold an aggregate of 157.7 grams of methamphetamine to undercover law enforcement officers during nine separate transactions between July 2015 and Sept. 2015.   The complaint further charged Rodriguez with brandishing a handgun during a methamphetamine transaction on July 8, 2015.

Vallejos and Rodriguez subsequently were charged in a nine-count indictment that was filed on Dec. 17, 2015.  The indictment charged Vallejos and Rodriguez with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine from July 1, 2015 through July 30, 2015.  It also charged Rodriguez with distributing methamphetamine on three occasions in July 2015, and Vallejos and Rodriguez with distributing methamphetamine on four occasions in July 2015.  Rodriguez also was charged with brandishing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime on July 8, 2015.  According to the indictment, Vallejos and Rodriguez committed the nine crimes in Chaves County.

On Aug. 3, 2016, Vallejos pled guilty to a conspiracy charge and four methamphetamine distribution charges.  In entering the guilty plea, Vallejos admitted that he was responsible for distributing approximately 52.6 grams of methamphetamine in Chaves County in July 2015.

On Aug. 12, 2016, Rodriguez pled guilty to two of the distribution of methamphetamine charges and to brandishing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.  In entering the guilty plea, Rodriguez admitted that on July 8, 2015, she distributed approximately 15 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement officer, and during that transaction she used and carried a firearm.  Rodriguez further admitted that she distributed approximately 11.9 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement officer on July 30, 2015.  Rodriguez was sentenced on Oct. 31, 2017, to 63 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

This case was investigated by the Roswell office of the FBI and the New Mexico State Police.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy M. Castellano of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.