ALBUQUERQUE - Alejandro Carrillo, 37, of El Paso, Texas, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to a methamphetamine trafficking charge.
Carrillo was arrested on a criminal complaint on April 23, 2014, after a New Mexico State Police officer executed a traffic stop on his tractor trailer for a motor vehicle infraction. A consensual search of the trailer by the New Mexico State Police and U.S. Border Patrol, who were summoned to assist, revealed that Carrillo was transporting approximately nine pounds of methamphetamine that were concealed in the cab. In July of 2014, Carrillo was indicted and charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.
Today Carrillo entered a guilty plea to the indictment and admitted that on April 23, 2014, he unlawfully possessed 4.28 kilograms of methamphetamine with the intention of transporting it from El Paso to Denver, Colo. In his plea agreement, Carrillo admitted that he was to be paid $4000.00 if he was successful in making the delivery.
Carrillo was remanded into federal custody after entering his guilty plea. He will be detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. At sentencing, Carrillo faces a prison sentence of not less than ten years in prison.
This case was investigated by the El Paso office of HSI, the U.S. Border Patrol and the New Mexico State Police, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Garreth Winstead, III of the Las Cruces Branch Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
