ALBUQUERQUE – Reydecel Lopez-Ordonez, 23, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 60 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for his conviction on heroin trafficking charges. Lopez-Ordonez also was ordered to forfeit $10,752 in drug proceeds to the United States in addition to forfeiting his ownership interest in a residence in southwest Albuquerque.
Lopez-Ordonez and co-defendants Gonzalo Montenegro-Coronel, 31, a Mexican national, Esther Ordonez, 48, and Miguel Ordonez, 23, both of Albuquerque, and Fernando Gomez-Campos, 21, of El Paso, Texas were charged in a 13-count indictment that was filed on Dec. 2, 2015. The indictment charged the defendants with participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy between Nov. 2014 and Sept. 2015. The indictment also charged the defendants with distributing heroin on eight occasions between Nov. 2014 and Sept. 2015, and with using telephones to facilitate drug trafficking crimes. It also charged Esther Ordonez, Miguel Ordonez and Montenegro-Coronel with maintaining a residence for the purpose of manufacturing and distributing heroin between Nov. 2014 and Sept. 2015. According to the indictment, the defendants committed the crimes in Bernalillo County, N.M.
Lopez-Ordonez pled guilty on Oct. 19, 2016, to one count of distributing heroin and two counts of using a communication device to further the commission of a drug trafficking crime. In entering the guilty plea, Lopez-Ordonez admitted using a telephone on March 19, 2015 and June 10, 2015, to arrange heroin sales. Lopez-Ordonez also admitted selling 568 grams of heroin to an undercover agent in exchange for $26,000 on July 9 and 10, 2015.
On March 10, 2017, Gomez-Campos pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment charging him with participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy. In his plea agreement, Gomez-Campos admitted that on Oct. 13, 2015, law enforcement officers found approximately 2.67 kilograms (5.89 pounds) of heroin in the trunk of the vehicle in which Gomez-Campos was a passenger. Gomez-Campos admitted that he intended to deliver the heroin from El Paso to Albuquerque. Gomez-Campos also admitted that on April 28, 2015, he was paid to drive a similar quantity of heroin from Juarez, Mexico, to El Paso and then onto Albuquerque. At sentencing, Gomez-Campos faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum of life in federal prison. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
The three remaining co-defendants have entered not guilty pleas to the indictment and are pending trial. Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and the HIDTA Region I Drug Task Force as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program, which combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations.
Related Federal Cases
- Edward Lewis, Heroin Trafficking, New Mexico 2016 · New York
- Fernando Gomez-Campos, Heroin Trafficking, New Mexico · Montana
- Johnathon Jacob Rios, Heroin Trafficking, New Mexico 2024 · Texas
- Luis Angel Briseño-Lopez, Drug Trafficking, New Mexico 2024 · Texas
- Lindsey Noel Rawls, Heroin Trafficking, Marshall TX, 2023 · Texas
Key Facts
- State: New Mexico
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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