Coke dealer gets 3 year sentence
Judge sentences man to almost three years for cocaine distribution

By Jim Maniaci
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — A 65-year-old man will spend almost three years in jail for cocaine distribution, Judge Camille M. Olguin ruled in a decision filed Dec. 27 in the 13th Judicial District Court Clerk's Office.

The judge also imposed the maximum fines allowed.

In imposing the term of 2 years and 309 days on Antonio Garcia, the judge accepted a plea agreement, which resulted in Garcia's conviction on Nov. 3.

Garcia pleaded guilty to the 3rd-degree felony along with misdemeanor drug paraphernalia possession, which occurred on Dec. 30, 2004. The controlled substance distribution is considered a type of possession of illegal drugs.

Judge Olguin gave Garcia the full three years with the New Mexico Corrections Department for his distribution conviction and the fullest possible misdemeanor sentence, 364 days. The judge allowed sentences to run concurrently. She then subtracted 56 days for his pre-sentence time in the Cibola County Detention Center.

After he finishes his time in prison, Garcia will be on parole for two years.

Garcia will have to pay a $5,000 fine for his distribution conviction and a $1,000 fine for his paraphernalia conviction, along with $180 in DNA, Domestic Violence Education Fund and lab fees.

Suspended sentence
In a second decision filed in the court clerk's office Dec. 27 from a Nov. 20 sentencing hearing, Olguin suspended the sentence of Moises Martinez, 32, and placed him into 18 months of supervised probation. She also ruled only if he goes back to prison he would receive 55 days credit for his pre-sentence confinement.

She accepted the plea agreement between Deputy District Attorney Randolph Collins and Public Defender Fernandez signed Sept. 15 from two counts of a grand jury indictment for offenses committed June 15, 2004.

The convictions were for 4th-degree felony stolen motor vehicle possession and 4th-degree felony false motor vehicle registration. The 18 months is the maximum term for a 4th-degree felony. She also decided his sentence in the 13th District would run concurrently with his sentence in the 2nd Judicial District (Bernalillo County).

Garcia will have to pay his probation cost each month, along with whatever restitution the probation office determines, plus $105 in DNA and Domestic Violence Education Fund fees. She ordered him to finish a Community Compliance Program and any other programs the probation department recommends.

To contact reporter Jim Maniaci in Grants, telephone 285-6184 or (505) 870-7775 (cellular).