Curry County Woman Sentenced to 60 Months for Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Jeanette Driever, 38, of Grady, N.M., was sentenced today in Albuquerque, N.M., to 60 months in prison for her methamphetamine trafficking conviction.  Driever will be on supervised release for five years after completing her prison sentence.

Driever and her three co-defendants, Christopher Jason Kidd, 38, Tina Tafoya, 33, and John Jesse Perez, Jr., 46,  all of Clovis, N.M., were indicted in Feb. 2014, on federal methamphetamine trafficking charges.  Count 1 of the three-count indictment charged the four defendants with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine in Curry County, N.M., between Sept. 2013 and Nov. 2013.  Count 2 charged Kidd and Tafoya with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on Nov. 6, 2013.  Count 3 charged Driever and Perez with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute also on Nov. 6, 2013.

Driever and Perez entered guilty pleas to federal drug trafficking charges on Nov. 20, 2014.  Each pled guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Curry County.  Driever admitted that she and Perez obtained quantities of methamphetamine from Kidd and Tafoya and then distributed the methamphetamine to others.  Perez acknowledged participating in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy that involved Driever, Kidd, Tafoya and others.

Tafoya entered a guilty plea on Dec. 17, 2014, and admitted conspiring with Kidd, Driever and Perez to distribute methamphetamine in Curry County in fall of 2013.  Kidd entered a guilty plea on Nov. 17, 2014, and admitted that he conspired with his co-defendants to distribute methamphetamine in Curry County.  More specifically Kidd admitted that he and Tafoya supplied quantities of methamphetamine to others, including Driever and Perez, who resold the methamphetamine in smaller quantities to users.  According to Kidd’s plea agreement, on Nov. 9, 2013, Kidd and Tafoya supplied a pound of methamphetamine to Driever and Perez.  On that day, Kidd and Tafoya possessed another half-pound of methamphetamine at their residence.  The methamphetamine was seized later that day pursuant to search warrants.

Kidd was sentenced on June 16, 2015, to 78 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.  Tafoya was sentenced on July 23, 2015, to 78 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Perez will be sentenced to 36 months followed by a period of supervised release to be determined by the court.  Perez remains in custody pending his sentencing hearing which is currently scheduled for Sept. 22, 2015.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces Agency Office of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division, the Region V Drug Task Force and the New Mexico State Police, with assistance from the Ninth Judicial District Attorney’s Office.  The Region V Drug Task Force is comprised of the Clovis Police Department, the Portales Police Department, Curry County Sheriff’s Office and the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Jon Ganjei is prosecuting the case.