Date: 07-24-2014

Case Style: United States of America v. Carlos Luis Bujanda

Case Number: 5:14-cr-00841-RB

Judge: RB

Court: United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (Bernalillo County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Terri J. Abernathy

Defendant's Attorney: Steven Lorenzo Almanza, Richard D. Esper and Russell Clark

Description: Las Cruces, NM – On July 24, 2014, Carlos Luis Bujanda, 46, of Hobbs, N.M., entered a guilty plea in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to a methamphetamine trafficking charge.

Bujanda was arrested on Dec. 12, 2013, on a criminal complaint alleging that he possessed methamphetamine with intent to distribute in Lea County, N.M., on Nov. 14, 2013. He subsequently was indicted in March 2014, on that same charge.

Court filings reflect that Bujanda was arrested by officers of the Lea County Drug Task Force on Nov. 14, 2013, when he attempted to deliver an ounce of methamphetamine to individual who, unbeknownst to him, was working as a confidential informant. After his arrest, officers executed a search warrant at Bujanda’s residence in Hobbs and seized more than 500 grams of substances that tested positive for methamphetamine and $3,366.00 in cash.

During his plea hearing, Bujanda entered a guilty plea to the indictment. In his plea agreement, Bujanda admitted possessing more than 431 grams of pure methamphetamine and $3,366.00 which were seized by officers when they executed a search warrant at his residence on Nov. 14, 2013.

Bujanda has been in custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing. At sentencing, Bujanda faces a statutory penalty of not less than ten years and not more than life in prison. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Bujanda also must forfeit the currency seized from his residence and a Dodge Ram truck purchased with drug proceeds.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA and the Lea County Drug Task Force, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Terri J. Abernathy of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

The Lea County Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Lea County Sheriff’s Office, Hobbs Police Department, Lovington Police Department, Eunice Police Department, the Tatum Police Department and the Jal Police Department, and is part of the HIDTA Region VI Drug Task Force. 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.

Outcome: See above

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: