ALBUQUERQUE - Renee Rodriguez, 33, of Roswell, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 63 months in prison for her conviction on methamphetamine trafficking and firearms charges. Rodriguez will be on supervised release for three years after completing her prison sentence.
Rodriguez and co-defendant Joseph Vallejos, 25, also of Roswell, were charged in a criminal complaint filed in Sept. 2015, with conspiracy, distribution of methamphetamine, and firearms offenses in Chaves County, N.M. According to the criminal complaint, Rodriguez and Vallejos sold an aggregate of 157.7 grams of methamphetamine to undercover law enforcement officers during nine separate transactions between July 2015 and Sept. 2015. The complaint further charged Rodriguez with brandishing a handgun during a methamphetamine transaction on July 8, 2015.
Rodriguez and Vallejos subsequently were charged in a nine-count indictment that was filed on Dec. 17, 2015. The indictment charged Rodriguez and Vallejos with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine from July 1, 2015 through July 30, 2015. It also charged Rodriguez with distributing methamphetamine on three occasions in July 2015, and Vallejos and Rodriguez with distributing methamphetamine on four occasions in July 2015. Rodriguez also was charged with brandishing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime on July 8, 2015. According to the indictment, Vallejos and Rodriguez committed the nine crimes in Chaves County.
On Aug. 12, 2016, Rodriguez pled guilty to two of the distribution of methamphetamine charges and to brandishing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. In entering the guilty plea, Rodriguez admitted that on July 8, 2015, she distributed approximately 15 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement officer, and during that transaction she used and carried a firearm. Rodriguez further admitted that she distributed approximately 11.9 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement officer on July 30, 2015.
On Aug. 3, 2016, Vallejos pled guilty to a conspiracy charge and four methamphetamine distribution charges. At sentencing, Vallejos faces a statutory minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison followed by not less than four years of supervised release. Vallejos also will be ordered to pay $750.00 in restitution to the United States, which represents the proceeds he derived from the drug trafficking offenses to which he pleaded guilty. Vallejos remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the Roswell office of the FBI and the New Mexico State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy M. Castellano 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
