ALBUQUERQUE - Jestin White, 23, of Hobbs, N.M., pled guilty on Friday afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to cocaine trafficking charges under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
White was arrested in May 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with distribution of cocaine on May 19, 2015, in Lea County, N.M. According to the complaint, White distributed cocaine to an undercover law enforcement agent from Aug. 25, 2014 through May 19, 2015.
White was subsequently charged in a five-count indictment that was filed on Aug. 19, 2015. The indictment charged White with distributing cocaine on Sept. 4, 2014, Sept. 9, 2014, Oct. 23, 2014, Nov. 6, 2014, and May 19, 2015. The crimes charged in the indictment took place in Lea County. The indictment also included forfeiture allegations requiring White to forfeit $8,050.00 to the United States.
During Friday’s proceedings, White pled guilty to the indictment and admitted selling a total of 461 grams of cocaine to an undercover agent during five separate drug deals. More specifically White admitted selling the following quantities of cocaine to the agent: 2.1 grams on Sept. 4, 2014; 57 grams on Sept. 9, 2014; 57.5 grams on Oct. 23, 2014; 62 grams on Nov. 6, 2014; and 283 grams on May 19, 2015.
At sentencing, White faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison followed by not less than three years of supervised release. White remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Lea County Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the 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
