Norma Patricia Rivera, Methamphetamine Trafficking, New Mexico 2015

Deming Woman Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Methamphetamine Trafficking

A 40-year-old Deming woman has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for her involvement in methamphetamine trafficking in New Mexico. Norma Patricia Rivera was sentenced in federal court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on [no date given] to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for her methamphetamine trafficking conviction.

Rivera was arrested in May 2015, on a criminal complaint charging her with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. The complaint alleged that Rivera committed the crime in Luna County, New Mexico, on May 20, 2015. According to the complaint, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents executed a state court search warrant at a residence in Luna County and seized 722.9 grams of a methamphetamine mixture in liquid and crystal form.

Rivera was subsequently charged in a two-count indictment on August 19, 2015, with distributing methamphetamine in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, on July 17, 2014, and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute in Luna County on May 20, 2015.

On October 15, 2015, Rivera pled guilty to the indictment. In entering the guilty plea, Rivera admitted selling 162.18 grams of methamphetamine to a person working with law enforcement officers in Las Cruces on July 17, 2014, Rivera also admitted that she possessed liquid and crystal methamphetamine in Deming on May 20, 2015, and that she intended to sell the drugs to others.

This case was investigated by the Deming office of HSI, the Las Cruces office of the FBI, the HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force, and the Deming Police Department, with assistance from the 6th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander B. Shapiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.

The HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force is comprised of officers from the Las Cruces Police Department, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, HSI, and the New Mexico State Police. 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.

Rivera had been arrested in May 2015, on a criminal complaint charging her with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Rivera was subsequently charged in a two-count indictment on August 19, 2015.

Defendant: Norma Patricia Rivera

Criminal Charges: Possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute

City and State: Deming, New Mexico

Exact Date: May 20, 2015 (crime date)

Sentence or Outcome: 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release

Dollar Amounts: Not applicable

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