Alamogordo man sentenced to 21 years for 12 pounds of methamphetamine

ALAMOGORDO – A 56-year-old man was sentence in 12th Judicial District Court to 21 years in prison after he plead guilty to having about 12 pounds of methamphetamine and various other narcotics at his Alamogordo home in 2014.

The Otero County Sheriff’s Office and 12th Judicial District Attorney’s Office estimated the street value of the drugs between $500,000 and $1 million.

Neil D. Ochoa was to stand trial on various felony charges of trafficking, distribution and possession of drugs in 12th Judicial District Judge Angie K. Schneider’s courtroom, but instead decided to change his plea to guilty before the jury was called to the courtroom June 19.

In a plea agreement with the state, Ochoa plead guilty to one count of second-degree felony drug trafficking with aggravating circumstances, two counts of third-degree felony distribution of a controlled substance by possession with intent to distribute (psilocybin-mushrooms and ecstasy) and two counts of fourth-degree felony possession of a controlled substance (cocaine and morphine).

In addition to Ochoa receiving a 21 year prison term, he also will have to pay the state $30,000 in fines for his felony convictions. He will have to serve two years of parole after Ochoa completes his prison sentence.

Otero County Sheriff’s Office detectives executed a search warrant at Ochoa’s residence in the 200 block of Mountain Meadows May 6, 2017, according to Magistrate Court records.

According to court records obtained by the Daily News, OCSO detectives found 12 pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms and cash inside the residence.

Representing the state 12th Judicial District Attorney John P. Suggs said he asked for an extraordinary sentence because it was an extraordinary amount of drugs that Ochoa had at his home.

“We’re looking at the neighborhood pharmacist,” Sugg said during Ochoa’s June 22 sentencing hearing. “Cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and other drugs, we had it at that house.”

From the bench Judge Angie K. Schneider said she believed Ochoa was running a drug enterprise out of his Alamogordo home.

“The impact on this community would be devastating,” Schneider said. “I believe it’s an appropriate sentence. Clearly there’s a lack of remorse.”

During his sentencing hearing Ochoa said he believed his civil rights were violated by law enforcement and prosecutors while they were recording his jailhouse telephone calls and during the execution of the search warrant on his home.

“A lot of the recordings were used against me,” Ochoa said. “I was talking about something else. Every time I turned around, my civil rights were violated.”

Ochoa’s defense attorney Canon Stevens said she will be appealing her client’s case.

“Basically we’re appealing because it was a bad search warrant,” Stevens said. “The police did not do what they were required. I believe it will be overturned.”

Suggs said he believed Ochoa still has a lack of remorse for his actions.

“It’s the largest house seizure of methamphetamine that any of the detectives involved in this case have seen,” Suggs said. “We’re talking about the Otero County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Enforcement Unit where all they investigate are drugs, none of them have come close to it. The largest case they could come up with was the AZ Boys. With the AZ Boys, they found three to four pounds. We’re talking about three to four times the largest amount the AZ Boys had.”

He said he believes it’s the largest amount of methamphetamine that’s has been prosecuted at the state level.

“Absolutely no acceptance of responsibility on behalf of the defendant,” Sugg said. “He completely avoided any responsibility in the crime. He kind of blamed law enforcement for violating his civil rights as he said it. The reality is law enforcement did a really good job of getting a bad drug dealer off the streets. We were happy to get 21 years for Mr. Ochoa.”

He said he is happy to get Ochoa off the streets of Alamogordo.

“We’re talking about an estimation between a half-a-million and a million dollars’ worth of street level methamphetamine,” Sugg said. “It’s a significant blow to the drug trafficking organization that was going on in 2014. That type of hit to an organization is not easily absorbed at a local level. It was a big score to get it off of the street, and more importantly to get Ochoa off of the street so he cannot continue to sell drugs in our community.”