Man facing meth, other charges
Police confiscate booklets with names, phone numbers

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

Bob Ryder Nelson

MILAN — An alleged drug dealer was arrested March 7 by Grants police.

Bob Ryder Nelson, 29, of a post office box in Milan, faces a preliminary hearing in Cibola County Magistrate Court in connection with one count each of the following charges: possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest, no insurance on his vehicle and no headlights.

The distribution of methamphetamine charge is a third-degree felony and the statutory penalty is up to three years in state prison and up to a $5,000 fine or both, if prosecuted and convicted.

Added to that charge are the five misdemeanors, each carrying up to a 364 days term in state prison, along with up to a $1,000 fine, also if prosecuted and convicted.

The total amount of time Nelson could serve is five days short of eight years and up to a $10,000 fine.

He is currently in custody in the Cibola County Detention Center on a $6,000 cash bond, said Lt. Adrianne Jaramillo.

Driving without headlights
On March 7, just before 2 a.m., Nelson was driving west on Cordova Street with no headlights. Grants Police Cpl. Salvador Corral pulled the vehicle over and when talking to Nelson, noticed him trying to put what appeared to be a white pipe in his pocket, according to Magistrate Court records.

Corral asked Nelson to get out of the car and when he tried to arrest and put handcuffs on him, Nelson resisted by stiffening, clenching his fists, locking up his body and trying to turn away, court records state.

Grants police officer Monica Porter, who had arrived as backup, helped Corral handcuff Nelson, court records state.

When Corral started searching both Nelson and the car he was driving, the officer found a small aluminum box on Nelson containing 11 small clear plastic baggies containing what field tested as methamphetamine, a clear plastic bag with four marijuana roaches, a single marijuana roach in the front console of the vehicle, four tally sheet booklets with names and telephone numbers, a box of shotgun shells, a set of brass knuckles and several knives, court records state.

Nelson also had $446 in cash, according to court records.

Randolph M. Collins, deputy district attorney for the 13th Judicial District in Grants, said, "I don't have any statistics, but I think methamphetamine is pervasive and responsible for a great number of methamphetamine-related offenses, whether it be property crimes or actual possession of methamphetamine."

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin, call (505) 287-2197, or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.