ALBUQUERQUE - Stephen Eugene Raeuber, 37, of Park Hills, Mo., pled guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to a methamphetamine trafficking charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Raeuber was arrested in Aug. 2016, on a criminal complaint alleging that he possessed more than a pound and a half of methamphetamine in Otero County, N.M. According to the complaint, Raeuber was arrested after U.S. Border Patrol agents at the U.S. Border Patrol station near Alamogordo, N.M., seized crystal methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia from the vehicle Raeuber was driving.
During today’s proceedings, Raeuber pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Raeuber admitted that on Aug. 21, 2016, he entered the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 54 in a vehicle containing a safe box with methamphetamine, which was found by Border Patrol agents during a routine inspection. Raeuber admitted knowing that the methamphetamine was in the vehicle and that he intended to deliver the methamphetamine to other individuals in exchange for money.
At sentencing, Raeuber faces a statutory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum of life in federal prison. He remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA and the U.S. Border Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Clara Nevarez Cobos is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
