Karen Diaz, Methamphetamine Trafficking, New Mexico 2016

A hard-hitting crime in Hobbs, New Mexico has led to a significant sentence. Karen Diaz, 42, was sentenced to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for her methamphetamine trafficking conviction.

According to the complaint, on September 15, 2015, in Lea County, N.M., law enforcement officers executed search warrants on Diaz’s residence and vehicle, and seized approximately 552 grams of methamphetamine and two firearms.

This case was investigated by the Lea County Drug Task Force and was 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 NM 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.

Karen Diaz was arrested on October 2015 on a criminal complaint charging her with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. On February 12, 2016, Diaz pled guilty to a felony information charging her with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

In entering the guilty plea, Diaz admitted that on September 15, 2015, law enforcement agents who were executing a search warrant at her residence, located methamphetamine on her person, in her purse and inside her residence. Diaz further admitted that she planned to distribute the methamphetamine.

Related Federal Cases