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Press Release

Roswell Woman Pleads Guilty to Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico
Plea Agreement Recommends Ten-Year Prison Sentence

ALBUQUERQUE – Monica Vega, 35, of Roswell, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to methamphetamine trafficking charges.  Vega’s plea agreement recommends a ten-year prison sentence followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

Vega was arrested on Nov. 17, 2017, on a three-count indictment charging her with methamphetamine trafficking and firearms offenses.  The indictment charged Vega with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute on April 20, 2017 and Oct. 20, 2017, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on April 20, 2017.  According to the indictment, Vega committed the crimes in Chaves County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, Vega pled guilty to a two-count felony information charging her with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  In entering the guilty plea, Vega admitted that on April 20, 2017, law enforcement agents seized approximately 57.8 grams of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and $1,083 while executing a search warrant at her residence.  Vega also admitted that on Oct. 19, 2017, New Mexico State Police officers seized approximately 33.6 grams of methamphetamine from her when they arrested her on a traffic violation.  Vega acknowledged that she planned to distribute the methamphetamine to others for money. 

Vega has been in federal custody since her arrest and remains detained pending her sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, the Roswell Police Department, New Mexico State Police and the HIDTA Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dustin C. Segovia and John Balla of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office are prosecuting the case.

The HIDTA Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force is comprised of investigators from the Roswell Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and the Chaves County Sherriff’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 19, 2018

Topic
Drug Trafficking