ALBUQUERQUE - Veronica Valenzuela, 41, of Columbus, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 156 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for her methamphetamine trafficking conviction.

Valenzuela was arrested in Feb. 2015, on a criminal complaint alleging conspiracy and methamphetamine trafficking charges. The criminal complaint charged Valenzuela and others with committing the crimes between Oct. 9, 2014 and Dec. 12, 2014 in Luna County, N.M. According to the criminal complaint, Valenzuela and other individuals sold quantities of methamphetamine to undercover Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents on the following dates: 27 grams on Oct. 9, 2014; 27.5 grams on Oct. 17, 2014; and 104.89 grams on Nov. 4, 2014.

On April 24, 2016, Valenzuela pled guilty to a felony information charging her with participation in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy. In entering the guilty plea, Valenzuela admitted that on Nov. 4, 2014, she conspired with others to distribute 104.89 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent. Valenzuela further admitted that on Dec. 11, 2014, she conspired with others to distribute 231.05 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent.

This case was investigated by the Deming office of HSI and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis A. Martinez of the U.S. AttorneyGÇÖs Las Cruces Branch Office.