Roswell Man Sentenced to Ten Years for Drug Trafficking Conviction and Violating Supervised Release Conditions

ALBUQUERQUE – Richard G. Thyberg, 28, of Roswell, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 120 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for his conviction on heroin and methamphetamine trafficking charges and for violating the conditions of his supervised release on a prior conviction.

Thyberg was arrested on Nov. 4, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him methamphetamine and heroin trafficking offenses in Chaves County, N.M. According to the complaint, Thyberg sold 15.4 grams of methamphetamine to an individual working with law enforcement on May 18, 2016. The complaint further alleges that on June 28, 2016, law enforcement agents found 319.4 grams of methamphetamine, 91.5 grams of heroin, Suboxone strips, marijuana, $4,033.95 in cash, and drug paraphernalia inside Thyberg’s vehicle while executing a search warrant. At the time of the offenses, Thyberg was on supervised release for a federal conviction in 2009.

On March 8, 2017, Thyberg pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine and heroin with intent to distribute and violating the terms of his supervised release for his prior conviction. In entering the guilty plea, Thyberg admitted that on June 28, 2016, he possessed the methamphetamine and heroin officers found in his vehicle, and that he intended to sell the drugs to others. Thyberg also admitted violating the conditions of his supervised release, which included prohibitions against committing another federal, state or local crime and unlawfully possessing a controlled substance by possessing methamphetamine and heroin with the intent to distribute on June 28, 2016.

This case was investigated by the HIDTA Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force which is comprised of investigators from the Roswell Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and the Chaves County Sherriff’s Office. 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.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Selesia Winston of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities. Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico.

The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative. Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.