Roswell Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Drug and Ammunition Charges

LAS CRUCES, NM—On June 15, 2011 in federal court in Las Cruces, Frank Montoya, 65, of Roswell, New Mexico, pled guilty to a five-count indictment charging him with narcotics trafficking and ammunition offenses. At sentencing, Montoya faces a maximum penalty of a minimum five years and maximum of forty years of imprisonment on the narcotics trafficking offenses, and a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment on the firearms offense. Montoya, who was arrested on June 24, 2010, and released on a $10,000 secured bond, will remain out of custody pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that Montoya was arrested on June 24, 2010 after law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at his residence in Roswell and seized drugs, currency and drug trafficking paraphernalia. In a superseding indictment filed on February 16, 2011, Montoya was charged with (1) possession of cocaine with intent to distribute on June 24, 2010; (2) possession of marijuana with intent to distribute on June 24, 2010; (3) being a felon in possession of ammunition; and (4) distribution of cocaine on May 20, 2010 and June 3, 2010.

In pleadings filed with the court, Montoya admitted that on May 20, 2010 and June 3, 2010, he sold cocaine to an individual who, unbeknownst to him, was a government informant. Montoya also admitted that on June 24, 2010, when law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at his home in Roswell, officers found 868.19 grams of cocaine hidden inside his home, including in the clothes dryer. The officers also found 33.35 grams of marijuana in the kitchen, two rounds of Winchester 12 gauge shotgun shells in a bedroom closet, and 32 rounds of Remington .22 caliber ammunition and one round of Federal .22 caliber ammunition on a shelf in the living room. In his plea agreement, Montoya admitted possession of the cocaine, marijuana and ammunition found in his Roswell home. Montoya was prohibited from possessing ammunition because he has a prior felony conviction for possession of cocaine in Chaves County District Court.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Aaron O. Jordan.