Source: United States Attorneys General
Headline: Las Cruces Man Sentenced to 140 Months in Prison for Federal Methamphetamine Trafficking Conviction
ALBUQUERQUE – Joshua Nestle, 26, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced yesterday in federal court to 140 months in prison for his conviction on methamphetamine trafficking charges. Nestle will be on supervised release for four years after completing his prison sentence.
Nestle and co-defendant Joclyn Telles, 35, also of Las Cruces, were arrested in Feb. 2017, and were charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. The complaint also charged Nestle with being a felon in possession of a firearm and with using and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. According to the criminal complaint, the defendants committed the crimes on June 29, 2016, in Dona Ana County, N.M. Law enforcement officers arrested Nestle and Telles on outstanding arrest warrants following a traffic stop, and during a search incident to the arrests, found approximately 2.6 ounces of methamphetamine and a firearm in the vehicle.
On June 7, 2017, Nestle pled guilty to a felony information charging him with conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. In entering the guilty plea, Nestle admitted that on June 29, 2016, he conspired with others to violate the federal drug trafficking laws. He also admitted possessing the 2.6 ounces of methamphetamine found in his vehicle and acknowledged that he intended to distribute the drugs to others. Nestle further admitted that on March 9, 2017, he possessed a controlled substance while he was incarcerated at the Dona Ana County Detention Center.
Telles was indicted on June 21, 2017, and charged with conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. She entered a guilty plea to the indictment on July 18, 2017, without the benefit of a plea agreement. At sentencing, Telles faces a statutory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison. She remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Saltman of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.