Luis Cipriano, 43, of Las Cruces, N.M., is headed to federal prison for 144 months after being sentenced on cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking charges in two separate cases. The hard-line sentence, handed down in Albuquerque federal court, includes four years of supervised release post-incarceration, marking the end of a years-long investigation into a local drug operation.
Cipriano was charged alongside Christian Cipriano, 23, and Luis Manuel Enriquez-Ramirez, 37, in a two-count indictment, 15-CR-1798, filed May 20, 2015. The indictment accuses the trio of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine on August 19, 2014, in Doña Ana County. That same day, Cipriano and Enriquez-Ramirez negotiated a meth sale with an individual who was, unbeknownst to them, working with law enforcement.
In a parallel case, indictment 15-CR-1799, Cipriano and George Ventura, 47, both of Las Cruces, were charged with cocaine trafficking. The indictment alleges a conspiracy to distribute cocaine between August 5 and November 13, 2014. Cipriano admitted to delivering cocaine on August 5 and October 10–11, 2014, while he and Ventura jointly distributed the drug on September 8, 2014, to an undercover agent.
Cipriano pleaded guilty to both indictments on January 8, 2016. His admissions detailed repeated narcotics transactions, including direct sales to law enforcement operatives. The plea sealed his fate, eliminating any chance of leniency despite the absence of prior federal convictions. Prosecutors emphasized the brazen nature of the operation, calling it a sustained effort to flood the community with high-potency drugs.
Co-defendants have already faced justice. Christian Cipriano, who drove Luis Cipriano to the meth deal, pleaded guilty the same day and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison. Ventura admitted to his role in the cocaine scheme, was sentenced to 146 days, and ordered to forfeit $7,600.00 in illicit proceeds. Both are now under supervised release.
Luis Manuel Enriquez-Ramirez remains at large and is considered a fugitive by federal authorities. The DEA’s Las Cruces office led the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis A. Martinez prosecuting. Charges in indictments are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. But in Cipriano’s case, the gavel has fallen.
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Key Facts
- State: New Mexico
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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