Deming man pleads guilty to meth-trafficking charge

A Deming man who took a bus to California to pick up two pounds of meth pleaded guilty to a trafficking charge Tuesday.

As part of a plea deal, Andy Garcia, Jr., 43, admitted to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and he will be sentenced to 10 years in prison and supervised released.

Garcia was named in a nine-count indictment filed on April 21, 2016. He was charged with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute in Jan. 2016.

Garcia traveled by bus from Deming to California to pick up two pounds of methamphetamine. While in the bus on his way back to Deming, law enforcement agents seized his bag, which contained the methamphetamine.

Garcia was indicted along with Leslie Frank Williams, 52, and Domingo Rodriguez, 46, both of Deming; Oscar Garcia, 46, of, Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Estella Aguilar, 44, of Tucson, Ariz.

All five allegedly conspired to distribute methamphetamine from July 2015 through April 2016 in Luna County, N.M.

Williams was also charged with distributing methamphetamine on four occasions between Jan 2015 and Sept. 2015; Williams and Rodriguez were charged with distributing methamphetamine in Nov. 2015; and Rodriguez, Oscar Garcia and Andy Garcia were charged with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute in Jan. 2016.

Rodriguez, Oscar Garcia and Aguilar were also charged with conspiring to commit money laundering offenses in Feb. 10, 2016. Aguilar was charged with money laundering on Feb. 10, 2016. The indictment included forfeiture allegations requiring the co-defendants to forfeit $1,000,000 to the United States.

Rodriguez entered a guilty plea on Sept. 13, 2016, and Williams entered a guilty plea on Sept. 20, 2016. Their sentencing hearings have yet to be scheduled.

The remaining two co-defendants, Oscar Garcia and Aguilar, have pleaded not guilty.