Roswell Man Sentenced to Ten Years for Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Charles Nunez, 47, 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 his methamphetamine trafficking conviction. Nunez also was ordered to forfeit $70,000 in drug proceeds and five firearms to the United States.

Nunez was arrested on March 12, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute, carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm in Chaves County, N.M. According to the complaint, on March 12, 2016, the Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force executed search warrants on Nunez, his residence and his vehicle, and seized approximately five pounds of methamphetamine, firearms, a large amount of cash, drug paraphernalia, and a police radio scanner.

On Oct. 17, 2016, Nunez pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Nunez admitted that on March 12, 2016, agents seized five pounds of methamphetamine and several firearms from his residence.

This case was investigated by the Roswell office of the FBI and the Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Ong of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.

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.