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Press Release

Las Cruces Man was Sentenced to Seventy-Eight Months for Violating Federal Drug and Fireram Laws

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE – John Wade Crist, 57, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced this morning in Las Cruces federal court for his conviction on methamphetamine trafficking and firearms charges.  Crist will serve a 78-month prison sentence that will be followed by four years of supervised release.

Crist was arrested on Nov. 15, 2013, and a two-count indictment charging him with distribution of methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm.  According to the indictment, Crist distributed methamphetamine and possessed a firearm in Doña Ana County, N.M., on June 19, 2013.  At the time, Crist was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of two narcotics trafficking offenses.

On May 7, 2014, Crist entered a guilty plea to the indictment.  In his plea agreement, Crist admitted selling 23.3 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover officer who was posing as a drug dealer on June 19, 2013, in Doña Ana County.  Crist also admitted that on that same date, he possessed a shotgun and sold the firearm to the undercover officer.

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

Updated January 26, 2015