ALBUQUERQUE - Virginia Ilene Faudoa, 39, of Las Cruces, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court to a methamphetamine trafficking charge.
Faudoa was arrested on July 7, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging her with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime on Feb. 16, 2016, in Dona Ana County, N.M. According to the complaint, on Feb. 16, 2016, the HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force agents located a handgun with ammunition, approximately 12.4 grams of methamphetamine packaged for distribution and drug paraphernalia inside Faudoa’s hotel room.
Faudoa was subsequently indicted on Oct. 19, 2016, and charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on Feb. 16, 2016, in Dona Ana County.
During today’s proceedings, Faudoa pled guilty to a felony information charging her with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and admitted that on Feb. 16, 2016, law enforcement agents searched her hotel room and located approximately 12 grams of methamphetamine after receiving information that she was selling methamphetamine out of the room.
At sentencing, Faudoa faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. She 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 HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Saltman of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.
The HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force is comprised of officers from the Las Cruces Police Department, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, HSI and the New Mexico State Police. 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
