ALBUQUERQUE - Carlos Chavez, 37, of Hobbs, N.M., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to being a felon in possession of a firearm under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
During today’s proceedings, Chavez pled guilty to a felony information charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. In entering his guilty plea, Chavez admitted that on June 28, 2015, he unlawfully possessed a firearm and ammunition. At the time, Chavez was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because he had previously been convicted of at least one felony.
At sentencing, Chavez faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison followed by up to three years of supervised release. Chavez remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.
Court records reflect that Chavez was arrested in Aug. 2015, on related state charges filed in the 5th Judicial District Court for the State of New Mexico (Lea County, N.M.).
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA, the Lea County Drug Task Force and the Hobbs Police Department with assistance from the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Terri J. Abernathy of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting this case.
The Lea County Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Lea County Sheriff’s Office, Hobbs Police Department, Lovington Police Department, Eunice Police Department the Tatum Police Department and the Jal Police Department, and is part of the NM HIDTA Region VI Drug Task Force. 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
