Brothers who led Taos County drug ring sentenced to almost 11 years
A federal judge in Santa Fe has sentenced two brothers to about a decade in prison each for their roles in running one of the most lucrative heroin trafficking networks to operate in Taos County, according to Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Martinez.
Ivan Romero, 41, of El Prado, widely believed to have been at the top of the Romero drug ring, was sentenced by Judge Martha Vasquez on Tuesday to almost 11 years in prison, followed by a five-year period of supervised release.
Vasquez sentenced Romero’s brother, Ricco Romero, 28, to 10 years in prison, also to be followed by a five-year period of supervised release. Ricco Romero helped to oversee the receipt and distribution of large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine, prosecutors say.
Both men forfeited more than $400,000 in cash and will pay $15,000 in restitution fees to the community as part of their sentencing, Martinez said Tuesday.
The Romero drug ring was active in Taos County from at least 2012 to December 2015, when it was dismantled by a joint effort that included members of the Taos County Sheriff ’s Office, New Mexico State Police, the Taos Police Department, and the Albuquerque offices of the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In April 2015, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Ivan Romero’s residence. They seized drug paraphernalia, 461 grams of marijuana, 30 grams of hashish, more than 300 grams of heroin and $64,920 in cash.
Ivan Romero was the first to be arrested, after investigators learned that he and his brother regularly received large quantities of heroin and other drugs that lower-level couriers picked up from suppliers in Los Lunas and Albuquerque. Ivan and Ricco Romero would then cut the drugs with other substances before distributing packaged narcotics through a network of other drug dealers around Taos County.
A state court set Ivan Romero’s bond at $90,000. Other members of the Romero family conspired to launder heroin proceeds to post the bond.
Romero was released, but he was taken back into state custody after he violated the conditions of his release. His bond was raised to $150,000, and his family again conspired to launder money to post the amount, according to federal officials and prior news stories.
Several other people eventually were swept up in the bust, facing charges of drug trafficking and money laundering; all had submitted guilty pleas by the end of last year.