Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE — Two former Farmington area narcotics agents who pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy charges were sentenced to six years in federal prison on Wednesday for giving aid to a drug-trafficking organization with ties to Mexico.
Former New Mexico State Police agent Keith Salazar and former San Juan County Sheriff’s Deputy Levi Countryman were accused of being part of a conspiracy to aid Daniel Tarango Jr. and his drug organization since at least 2005.
According to court records, Salazar, a 13-year State Police veteran, was paid $500 every two weeks to provide information about undercover operations, identities of informants and undercover agents.
Countryman, who had left the Sheriff’s Department prior to 2005, acted as the middleman between Salazar and Tarango and received as much as $8,300 a month.
Tarango is also charged in the case and is a fugitive. He has extensive family ties in Mexico who are believed to provide the cocaine and methamphetamine his organization sold throughout San Juan County.
According to court records, Tarango and his organization had been targets of narcotics agents in the region for years, but the investigations kept coming up empty.
Suspecting an insider was tipping off Tarango and his people, local agents called in the FBI which in a matter of months developed the case against Salazar, Countryman and Tarango by making extensive use of wiretaps.
Some of the taped conversations were played at Salazar’s sentencing before Judge James Browning.
U.S. Attorney Greg Fouratt said, “This was the ultimate betrayal, and they deserve every minute of the lengthy prison sentences they received.”
Copyright 2008 Albuquerque Journal