Local residents indicted for drugs, child abuse, battery

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — The 13th Judicial District grand jury has indicted several individuals on true bills including possession of a controlled substance, marijuana; possession of methamphetamine; child abuse and aggravated driving while under the influence.

The grand jury meets most Wednesdays to hear deputy and assistant district attorneys present evidence on cases. The grand jury will most likely not meet again until after Jan. 1, 2008.

Indicted on Dec. 12 were:

• Varian Abeita, 21, was indicted in connection with the following charges from an incident on Aug. 17: Child abuse, intentional placing a child under the age of 18 in a situation that may endanger her life; child abuse, intentional, placing a child under the age of 18 in a situation that may endanger his life; and battery against a household member.
• Carleton Cinderella, 26, was indicted in connection with the following charges from an incident on Oct. 21: Child abuse, intentional; aggravated driving while intoxicated, .16 or above, fourth offense; speeding; failure to maintain traffic lane and driving while license revoked or suspended.
• Edith Counts, 32, was indicted in connection with the following charges from an incident on Oct. 6: Possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine; possession prohibited of a controlled substance, marijuana; and possession of drug paraphernalia.
• Donnie De Soto, 20, was indicted in connection with the following charge from an incident on April 15: Possession of an alcoholic beverage by a minor.
• Jose Jacob Fernandez, 52, was indicted in connection with the following charges from an incident on Oct. 6: Possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a fold-out spoon and several pipes.
• Richard Lewis, 48, was indicted in connection with the following charges from an incident on March 15, 2006: Possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, marijuana; and conspiracy to commit distribution of a controlled substance.
• Joe Mendoza, 32, was indicted in connection with the following charges from an incident that occurred on Oct. 6: Possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine; possession of a controlled substance, marijuana; and possession of drug paraphernalia, several glass pipes.
• Carlos Pompey, 25, was indicted on the following charges from an incident that occurred on March 15, 2006: Possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, marijuana; and conspiracy to commit distribution of a controlled substance, marijuana.