Ismael Vargas, Heroin Trafficking, New Mexico 2015

State: New Mexico
Category: Drug Trafficking
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/pr/inmate-sandoval-county-detention-center-pleads-guilty-trafficking-heroin-while" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

ALBUQUERQUE – In a shocking turn of events, Ismael Vargas, 29, of Belen, N.M., has pleaded guilty to heroin trafficking charges while incarcerated at the Sandoval County Detention Center.

According to the plea agreement, Vargas faces up to 41 months in federal prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

The charges stem from a five-count indictment filed in January 2016, which also named former Corrections Officer Christopher Gonzales and Fabrienne Rosalinda Morales. The indictment alleged that the trio conspired to distribute heroin on August 2, 2015, in Sandoval County, N.M.

Vargas, a 29-year-old inmate at the time, admitted to arranging for heroin to be delivered to the jail and facilitating the payment of money to a corrections officer to get the heroin into the jail.

Christopher Gonzales, 20, a former corrections officer, pleaded guilty to possessing heroin with intent to distribute on February 28, 2017. Gonzales admitted to bringing heroin to the Detention Center with the intention of delivering it to an inmate.

Fabrienne Rosalinda Morales, 39, pleaded guilty to distributing heroin on January 13, 2017. Morales admitted to smuggling heroin into the Sandoval County Detention Center and giving it to a corrections officer.

The case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Han prosecuting the case as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative.

The HOPE Initiative, launched in January 2015, aims to protect communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico. The initiative is comprised of five components: prevention and education, treatment, law enforcement, reentry, and strategic planning.

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