Last Defendant In Roswell Drug Trafficking Case Enter Plea

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — The last of more than 20 defendants in a case against a drug trafficking organization in Roswell has pleaded guilty to charges. The Roswell Daily Record reports (http://bit.ly/2ex5obg) that 51-year-old James Lewis entered the plea Friday in federal court in Las Cruces. In pleading guilty to conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, Lewis admitted to conspiring to distribute meth in Chaves County in June and July of 2015. He also admitted to receiving a bag of 7 pounds of methamphetamine from the other defendants. Lewis faces up to 20 years. He is one of 21 defendants who were charged after a months-long investigation into a drug trafficking ring led by Joseph Ray Mendiola, who pleaded guilty to drug charges earlier this week.