Sierra County Man Sentenced for Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Ruben David Martinez, III, 29, of Truth or Consequences, N.M., was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 39 months in prison for his conviction on methamphetamine trafficking charges. Martinez will be on supervised release for three years following his prison sentence.

Martinez was arrested in May 2016, and was charged by criminal complaint with possessing methamphetamine and heroin with intent to distribute. According to the criminal complaint, Martinez committed the offenses on May 16, 2016, in Sierra County, N.M., by throwing plastic bags containing more than 40 grams of methamphetamine and 9.22 grams of heroin from his vehicle while fleeing from law enforcement officers who were attempting to execute a traffic stop on his vehicle. After the officers arrested Martinez, they executed a search warrant on his vehicle and residence and seized an additional 69.8 grams of methamphetamine, pills, multiple cellular phones, cash and drug paraphernalia.

On Aug. 30, 2016, Martinez pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Martinez admitted that on May 16, 2016, he possessed approximately 49 grams of methamphetamine when Sierra County Sheriff’s Office deputies initiated a traffic stop on his vehicle. Martinez also acknowledged that he intended to distribute the methamphetamine to other people.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of Homeland Security Investigations, the New Mexico State Police and the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Beck of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.