Defendant Prosecuted Under Federal “Worst of the Worst" Anti-Violence Initiative
ALBUQUERQUE - Jennifer Rene Barela, 48, of Roswell, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for her conviction on a methamphetamine trafficking charge. The sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney James D. Tierney, Acting Special Agent in Charge Steve Borak of the El Paso Division of the DEA and Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey D. Self of the U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector
Acting U.S. Attorney Tierney said that Barela, whose criminal history includes prior felony convictions for methamphetamine trafficking, burglary, forgery and fraud, was prosecuted under a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst" offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders primarily based on their prior criminal convictions for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.
Barela was arrested in Dec. 2016, and was charged by criminal complaint with possessing heroin and methamphetamine with intent to distribute the drugs in Otero County, N.M. Barela was arrested on Dec. 6, 2016, after U.S. Border Patrol agents at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint south of Alamogordo, N.M., seized approximately 191.08 grams of black tar heroin, a kilogram of methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia from the vehicle in which Barela was traveling and from Barela herself.
On July 14, 2017, Barela pled guilty to a felony information charging her with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Barela admitted that on Dec. 6, 2016, Border Patrol agents ordered her out of her vehicle at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on New Mexico Highway 54, and discovered that Barela had approximately one kilogram of methamphetamine concealed on her person. She further admitted that she intended to deliver the methamphetamine to other individuals in exchange for money.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA and the U.S. Border Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Segovia of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
