ALBUQUERQUE - Arturo Dominguez Morales, 45, of Lamesa, Texas, was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 90 months in prison for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction. Morales will be on supervised release for 6 years after completing his prison sentence.
Morales was arrested on June 30, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute in Lea County, N.M. According to the complaint, agents with the Lea County Drug Task Force (LCDTF) discovered more than 230 grams of methamphetamine in Morales’ vehicle after learning from confidential sources that Morales was bringing large amounts of methamphetamine into Hobbs, N.M., for distribution.
On Sept. 30, 2015, Morales pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Morales admitted that on June 28, 2015, the LCDTF found 232 grams of methamphetamine in his vehicle. Morales also admitted that he was delivering the methamphetamine to another individual.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA and the LCDTF and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Terri J. Abernathy.
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 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
