Drug dealer facing life in prison
Enhanced penalty filed after negotiations for plea change broke down
The convicted drug dealer who is charged with distributing heroin resulting in the overdose death of 18-year-old Cameron Weiss in 2012 will face life in prison if federal prosecutors can win their case at trial next month.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed the information for the enhanced penalty Friday after negotiations with Raymond Moya, 33, to change his plea from not guilty to guilty broke down.
A change of plea hearing in Moya’s case was scheduled for Thursday and then rescheduled for Friday morning.
Moya was in court conferring with his attorneys when prosecutors left the courtroom.
Moya, who is serving a sevenyear federal prison sentence for distribution of heroin in a separate case, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years. But with his four prior state court drug convictions, he could be facing life in prison if convicted.
The federal trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 9.
According to court records, in August 2012, Weiss, a friend and Joseph Dyson purchased heroin from Moya at a fast-food restaurant parking lot on Coors NW.
The three shared some of the heroin in the car they were driving and then split up the remainder.
Weiss, an 18-year-old La Cueva High School wrestler and football player who had become addicted to legally prescribed painkillers, was found dead in his Northeast Heights bedroom by his mother.
The criminal charge in Moya’s case — distribution of heroin resulting in death — is rare, according to officials. There is only one other case like it pending in New Mexico federal courts and only a handful of cases like it have been charged around the country this year.
The purpose of the law is to hold drug dealers responsible for the damage they cause by selling drugs, but linking an individual overdose to a specific drug deal is difficult. Witnesses, if there are any, are usually other drug addicts and seldom volunteer information to law enforcement.
Court documents show Moya’s attorneys expect to challenge the government’s contention that the heroin Moya may have sold Weiss and his friends is the same heroin that killed him.
In Weiss’ case, there happened to be two witnesses — a high school friend and Dyson, whom Weiss had met while in the Metropolitan Detention Center on a misdemeanor charge.
Moya has numerous arrests and three prior state felony convictions in 2002 and 2004 for possession of controlled substances, as well as a 2002 aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly hitting someone with a gun.