Las Cruces Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking Charges

ALBUQUERQUE – Anthony Calderon, 40, of Las Cruces, N.M., pleaded guilty this afternoon in federal court to heroin and methamphetamine trafficking charges.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Calderon will be sentenced to a prison term in the range of 24 to 36 months.

Calderon was arrested on Aug. 8, 2014, in Las Cruces on an indictment charging him with two counts of distributing heroin and one count of distributing methamphetamine in Doña Ana County, N.M.  The indictment also charged Calderon’s co-defendant Orlando Roman, 34, also of Las Cruces, with one count of heroin distribution.  Roman was arrested on Oct. 9, 2014.

During today’s proceedings, Calderon pled guilty to all three counts of the indictment and admitted that on April 15 and April 16, 2014, he distributed approximately 75.3 grams of heroin to a person working under the supervision of law enforcement.  Calderon also admitted that on May 27, 2014, he distributed approximately 101.1 grams of methamphetamine to a person working under the supervision of law enforcement.

Co-defendant Roman has entered a plea of not guilty.  Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

This case is being prosecuted pursuant to the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative.  The HOPE Initiative is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center that is partnering with the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative with the overriding goal of reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in the District of New Mexico.  The HOPE Initiative comprised of five components:  (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning.  The law enforcement component of the HOPE Initiative 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 trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative.