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Press Release

Albuquerque Man Sentenced to 97 Months for Conviction on Witness Tampering and Cocaine Trafficking Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico
Defendant is One of Twenty Charged as the Result of Investigation Into Albuquerque-Base Cocaine Trafficking Organization

ALBUQUERQUE – George Roybal, 53, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced late yesterday afternoon in federal court to 97 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on witness tampering and cocaine trafficking charges.

George Roybal was one of 19 defendants charged with drug trafficking and money laundering charges in a 60-count indictment that was filed in Dec. 2012.  The indictment was superseded twice; first in Feb. 2014, to add a 20th defendant and a witness tampering charge, and again in Sept. 2014, to add another witness tampering charge and a heroin trafficking charge.

The charges filed in the case were the result of a 16-month multi-agency investigation into a drug trafficking organization headed by Christopher Roybal, 35, of Albuquerque, N.M., which was led by the FBI, IRS and Albuquerque Police Department with assistance from the DEA, the HIDTA Region I Narcotic Task Force and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.  The investigation, code-named “Operation Rain Check,” was designated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) program.  OCDETF is a nationwide Department of Justice program that combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations.

The original indictment charged Christopher Roybal and ten others, including George Roybal, with conspiracy to distribute large quantities of cocaine in New Mexico between Aug. 2011 and Dec. 2012.  It also charged Christopher Roybal and nine others with conspiracy to distribute marijuana between Oct. 2011 and Dec. 2012.  Additionally, the indictment included three separate money laundering conspiracies, 22 money laundering offenses, and 18 “telephone counts,” offenses alleging the use of a communications device to facilitate a drug trafficking offense.  The indictment was superseded in Feb. 2014, to add a new charge against George Roybal, alleging that he threatened an FBI informant to prevent the informant from testifying at the trial of this case which was then scheduled to begin on May 19, 2014.  It was superseded again in Sept. 2014, to add two new charges against defendant Kenneth Ulibarri, 36, of Albuquerque.  The new charges alleged that Ulibarri attempted to murder an FBI informant to prevent that informant from testifying at the trial of this case which was then scheduled to begin on Nov. 10, 2014, and with distributing heroin in Bernalillo County, N.M., in May 2014.

On Jan. 14, 2015, George Roybal pled guilty to witness tampering and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.  In entering his guilty plea, George Roybal admitted that from Aug. 2011 through Dec. 2012, he conspired with Christopher Roybal and others to distribute cocaine in the Albuquerque area.  George Roybal further admitted that on Nov. 13, 2013, he threatened to harm a person who was working with law enforcement.

This case was investigated by the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Albuquerque Police Department, with assistance from the DEA, the HIDTA Region I Narcotics Task Force and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joel R. Meyers and Shana B. Long.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kotz is responsible for litigating the related civil asset forfeiture actions.

The HIDTA Region I Narcotics Task Force is comprised of the Albuquerque Police Department, Albuquerque office of the DEA, Pojoaque Tribal Police Department, Rio Rancho Police Department, Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office and the Valencia County Sheriff’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.

Updated June 3, 2015