ALBUQUERQUE - Jacob J. Loredo, 29, of Carlsbad, N.M., was sentenced yesterday afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 87 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for violating the federal firearms and drug trafficking laws.
Loredo was arrested on Feb. 19, 2015, and charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute in Eddy County, N.M. According to the criminal complaint, on that day, agents with the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force executed a search warrant on Loredo’s residence and vehicle where they seized ammunition, two firearms, $4,955.00 in cash, methamphetamine, scales and other drug paraphernalia. According to court documents, at the time, Loredo was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of possession of cocaine, a felony offense.
On June 2, 2015, Loredo pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Loredo admitted that on Feb. 19, 2015, law enforcement officers recovered methamphetamine and two firearms from his residence in Carlsbad. Loredo further admitted that he had previously been convicted of possession of a controlled substance in Dec. 2008, and was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.
As required by the terms of his plea agreement, Loredo was ordered to forfeit the $4,995.00 seized from this residence as well as the firearms and ammunition.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA and the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander B. Shapiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
The Pecos Valley Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office, Carlsbad Police Department and Artesia Police Department and is part of the 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
