Charges arise out of the Seizure of more than Nine Pounds of Methamphetamine during Traffic Stop in Lordsburg, New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE - Miguel Angel Arias, 26, of Oxnard, Calif., pled guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to violating the federal firearms and drug trafficking laws.
Arias and co-defendant Marco Antonio Valero, 54, also of Oxnard, Calif., were arrested in Jan. 2017, and were charged by criminal complaint with methamphetamine trafficking and firearms offenses on Jan. 26, 2017, in Hidalgo County, N.M. According to the criminal complaint, Special Agents of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and officers of the Lordsburg Police Department arrested Arias and Valero finding eight bundles of methamphetamine weighing approximately 4.2 kilograms (9.26 pounds) and a firearm and ammunition in the defendants’ vehicle during a traffic stop in Lordsburg, N.M.
Arias and Valero were subsequently charged on April 19, 2017, in a five-count indictment with participating in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy between Jan. 21, 2017 and Jan. 27, 2017. The indictment also charged Arias with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and Valero with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. At the time, Valero was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted on a marijuana trafficking charge.
During today’s proceedings, Arias pled guilty to conspiracy, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. In entering the guilty plea, Arias admitted that on Jan. 26, 2017, law enforcement officers found methamphetamine concealed in his vehicle when he was stopped for speeding and following too closely in Lordsburg. Arias further admitted possessing a handgun, which was located under the driver seat of his vehicle, despite the fact that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his previous felony conviction.
Earlier this month, on June 7, 2017, Valero pled guilty to possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and admitted possessing the methamphetamine that was concealed in the vehicle in which he was a passenger on Jan. 26, 2017.
At sentencing, Arias faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum penalty of life in federal prison, and Valero faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Both men remain in custody pending sentencing hearings, which have yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Lordsburg Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Saltman of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
