United States Drug Enforcement Administration

ALBUQUERQUE – A Hobbs man was sentenced to 26 years in prison for drug trafficking and illegal firearm possession as a convicted felon.

There is no parole in the federal system.

According to court documents, on October 19, 2023, agents with the Lea County Drug Task Force stopped a SUV driven by Robert Louis Ortiz III, 39, in Hobbs, New Mexico. During the stop, a canine alerted to narcotics, and Ortiz admitted to possessing three firearms and approximately 3,800 fentanyl pills.

Less than a month later, on November 9, 2023, agents attempted to stop a sedan driven by Ortiz with his co-defendant, Amber Dawn Rogers Johnson, as the passenger in Tatum, New Mexico. The couple fled, crossing into Yoakum County, Texas, where Johnson fired shots at pursuing deputies and threw a backpack containing narcotics and firearms from the vehicle. The chase ended when the vehicle crashed in Hobbs, and both fled on foot before being apprehended.

Law enforcement recovered from the discarded backpack and vehicle search approximately 10,000 fentanyl pills, over 827 grams of pure methamphetamine, and four firearms, along with additional ammunition and magazines.

Ortiz, a previously convicted felon prohibited from possessing firearms, pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime and possessing said firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Upon his release from prison, Ortiz will be subject to five years of supervised release.

Johnson pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and two counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. She was sentenced to 19 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

Omar Arellano, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's El Paso Division, and U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison made the announcement today.

The DEA’s El Paso Division investigated this case with the assistance of the Lea County Drug Task Force, Fifth Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Yoakum County Sheriff's Office and the Gaines County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Williams is prosecuting this case.

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