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Press Release

Alamogordo Resident Pleads Guilty to Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico
Defendant is One of 34 Individuals Charged as Part of Investigation into Methamphetamine Trafficking on the Mescalero Apache Reservation

ALBUQUERQUE – Robin Lee Lovelace, 56, of Alamogordo, N.M., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to methamphetamine trafficking charges.  Under the terms of the plea agreement, Lovelace will be sentenced to 12 years in federal prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

Lovelace was one of 34 individuals charged with federal and tribal drug offenses as the result of an 18-month multi-agency investigation led by the DEA and BIA into methamphetamine trafficking on the Mescalero Apache Reservation.  Eighteen defendants, including five members of the Mescalero Apache Tribe and 13 non-Natives were charged in six federal indictments and a federal criminal complaint.  Sixteen other members of the Mescalero Apache Tribe were charged in tribal criminal complaints approved by the Mescalero Apache Tribal Court.

The investigation leading to the federal and tribal charges was initiated in May 2014, in response to an increase in violent crime on the Mescalero Apache Reservation perpetrated by methamphetamine users.  The investigation initially targeted a drug trafficking organization that was allegedly distributing methamphetamine within the Reservation, and later expanded to include two other drug trafficking organizations in southeastern New Mexico that allegedly served as sources of supply for the methamphetamine distributed within the Reservation.  In Aug. 2014, the investigation was designated as part of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, which 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 investigation is one of the first OCDETF investigations to utilize electronic surveillance (wiretaps) in Indian Country.  More than ten kilograms of methamphetamine were seized during the course of the investigation.

Lovelace was arrested on Nov. 20, 2015, on an indictment charging her and seven other non-Natives with methamphetamine trafficking and money laundering offenses.  The indictment charged Lovelace with participation in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy, distribution of methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and use of a communication device to facilitate a drug trafficking crime.

During today’s proceedings, Lovelace pled guilty to the methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy, distribution of methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and admitted that between April 9, 2015 and Oct. 16, 2015, she and a co-defendant conspired to sell methamphetamine to another individual who unbeknownst to them was an undercover law enforcement agent.  During that same time period, she also sold methamphetamine to other individuals who then distributed methamphetamine to their customers. 

Lovelace also admitted selling the following quantities of methamphetamine to an undercover agent as follows: 

  • 27.4 grams on April 9, 2015, in Bent, N.M.

  • 56 grams on April 17, 2015, in Mescalero

  • 84 grams on May 8, 2015, in Mescalero

  • 112 grams on May 15, 2015, in Mescalero

  • 112 grams on June 8, 2015, in Mescalero

  • 140 grams on July 1, 2015, in Mescalero

  • 580 grams on July 24, 2015, in Socorro,

  • 140 grams on Aug. 6, 2015, in Mescalero,

  • 140 grams on Sept. 3, 2015, in Tularosa, N.M.

  • 212 grams on Oct. 9, 2015, in Alamogordo, N.M.

Lovelace also admitted that on Oct. 15, 2015, she facilitated the sale of 364.2 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent.

Lovelace remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled

Lovelace is the fourth of the 18 federal defendants to enter a guilty plea.  On March 3, 2016, Tandee Sheree Bettag, 38, of Alamogordo, pled guilty and admitted that from Aug. 2015 through Sept. 2015, a codefendant provided her with methamphetamine which she distributed; she repaid her supplier with proceeds she obtained from selling the drugs.  Bettag further admitted that on Aug. 15, 2015, she used text messaging to arrange the delivery of money to a codefendant to cover a drug debt and pick up additional methamphetamine, and on Aug. 17, 2015, she used text messaging to discuss, money for a drug transaction.  At sentencing, Bettag faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.  She remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.

On Feb. 17, 2016, Jerilyn Lee Munoz, 27, of Artesia, N.M., pled guilty to a money laundering conspiracy charge.  In entering the guilty plea, Munoz admitted that between April 2015 and Oct. 2015, she maintained a bank account that was used by another person to deposit the proceeds of drug trafficking crimes in order to conceal the proceeds.  Munoz admitted that the other person deposited approximately $25,000.00 into her bank account during that period.  At sentencing, Munoz faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison followed by not more than three years of supervised release.  Her sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

Wallace Rice, 23, an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Nation who resides in Mescalero, N.M., pled guilty to a methamphetamine distribution charge on Feb. 5, 2016.  At sentencing, Rice faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison followed by not less than three years of supervised release.

The remaining 14 federal defendants have entered not guilty pleas to the charges against them.  Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

The federal and tribal cases were investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA, District IV of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services (Mescalero Agency), BIA’s Division of Drug Enforcement, Mescalero Tribal Police Department, Hatch Police Department, FBI and Lea County Drug Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Terri J. Abernathy of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the federal cases, and Mescalero Tribal Prosecutor Alta Braham is prosecuting the tribal cases.

Updated March 9, 2016

Topics
Drug Trafficking
Indian Country Law and Justice