ALBUQUERQUE – Allen Goosen, 30, of Farmington, N.M., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to heroin trafficking charges. The guilty plea was entered without the benefit of a plea agreement.
Goosen was arrested in Feb. 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with trafficking heroin in San Juan County, N.M. According to the complaint, Goosen sold approximately 6.03 grams of heroin to an undercover agent on Dec. 17, 2014. The complaint further alleges that on Jan. 5, 2015, Goosen was in possession of 5.95 grams of heroin packaged in six-single gram packages when he was arrested on a felony arrest warrant.
Goosen was subsequently indicted on March 8, 2016, and charged with distribution of heroin on Dec. 17, 2014, and possession of heroin with intent to distribute on Jan. 5, 2015. The indictment included forfeiture allegations requiring Goosen to forfeit at least $600 to the United States.
During today’s proceedings, Goosen pled guilty to both counts of the indictment. At sentencing, Goosen faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison. He remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.
The case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of Homeland Security Investigations and the HIDTA Region II Task Force. The HIDTA Region II Narcotics Task Force is comprised of officers and investigators from the Farmington Police Department, San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, Bloomfield Police Department and Aztec Police Department, and is part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program that was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander M. Uballez as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico. Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities. Working in partnership with Bernalillo County, DEA, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC) and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico.
The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components: (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning. HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners. Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative. Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.