Former state cop sentenced to prison on drug charges

He will be on supervised release for 8 years after his prison term

A former New Mexico State Police officer was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine and cannabis in San Juan County in 2018.

Daniel Capehart, 37, of Bloomfield, was convicted in July 2021 on three counts of distribution of marijuana and methamphetamine — twice near a school or playground.

Capehart will be on supervised release for eight years after serving his sentence.

The investigation began in June 2018 when Capehart pulled over a 16-year-old girl and her friend in Farmington, according to court records. Capehart began texting the girl within hours and the family reported it to authorities.

Authorities said a San Juan County Sheriff’s detective pretended to be the girl and Capehart dropped off marijuana intended for the teen on two occasions. Capehart also proposed giving confiscated meth to another woman for sex.

The FBI set up a sting where Capehart arrested an undercover agent with meth and then brought the drugs for the woman to a park in Bloomfield, according to court records. Capehart was arrested soon after.

According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the case was prosecuted as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation.

The release states the task force “identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highestlevel drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligencedriven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.”