A Lovington man was sentenced on methamphetamine trafficking charges and a Hobbs man pleaded guilty to possessing an illegal firearm Wednesday in federal court in Las Cruces.
Jose Antonio Rodriguez, 42, of Lovington, was sentenced to 84 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for his meth trafficking conviction.
Rodriguez was arrested in September 2015 and charged with conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. According to the complaint, Rodriguez was arrested Sept. 3, 2015, in Doña Ana County after U.S. Border Patrol agents at the Border Patrol Checkpoint on Interstate 10 in Las Cruces found 44.6 grams of meth in his vehicle during a routine inspection.
On Dec. 18, 2015, Rodriguez pleaded guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He acknowledged he intended to sell the meth to others.
Also Wednesday, Quinton Spurlock, 50, of Hobbs, pleaded guilty to violating the federal firearms laws by illegally possessing an unregistered short-barreled shotgun.
Spurlock was arrested April 6 on charges of possession of an unregistered firearm. According to the complaint, on April 15, 2014, Lea County Drug Task Force (LCDTF) agents executed a search warrant at a residence in Hobbs and found a handgun and shotgun cases inside Spurlock’s vehicle.
Further investigation determined Spurlock had no weapons registered to him and the firearm was also not registered.
At sentencing, Spurlock faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
