ALBUQUERQUE - Jeffrey Blake Vanover, 53, of Roswell, N.M., pled guilty yesterday afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to unlawfully possessing explosives. Vanover entered his guilty plea without the benefit of a plea agreement.
Vanover was arrested on April 7, 2018, on an indictment charging him with being a prohibited person in possession of explosives on Feb. 12, 2017, in Chaves County, N.M. According to the indictment, Vanover was prohibited from possessing explosives because he was an unlawful drug user and addict and because he was a convicted felon. The indictment stated that Vanover had prior felony convictions for distribution of methamphetamine, conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, and commercial burglary.
At sentencing, Vanover faces a maximum penalty of ten years. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the HIDTA Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alfred J. Perez of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
The HIDTA Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force is comprised of investigators from the Roswell Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and the Chaves County Sherriff’s Office. 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
