A former University of New Mexico football player could be sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted by a federal jury on conspiracy and drug trafficking charges.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) says Rayshawn Boyce, 29, was running a methamphetamine distribution operation from inside a New Mexico prison.
Boyce was convicted last year in federal court of robbing a postal worker at gunpoint. He was also convicted on charges of stealing an arrow key, a universal key used by postal workers to access mailboxes and prohibited person in possession of a firearm. The armed robbery occurred in 2022.
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New Mexico Lobos linebacker Rayshawn Boyce, right, tackles Wyoming Cowboys quarterback Josh Allen at War Memorial Stadium, Oct. 28, 2017, in Laramie, Wyoming. (Troy Babbitt-USA Today Sports)
While in custody at Cibola County Correctional Center awaiting trial for those crimes, Boyce began smuggling methamphetamine into the prison with the help of a guard, Correctional Officer Gabriella Torres.
“Review of surveillance footage revealed that on the evening of May 16, 2022, Correctional Officer Gabriella Torres smuggled a bundle of methamphetamine into the facility under her hoodie and dropped it in [a] cell in an area that was not covered by a camera for Boyce to retrieve,” the DOJ said in a Tuesday release. “A short time later, Boyce retrieved the bundle, concealed it in a blanket, and walked back to his cell.”
The DOJ says that when Boyce learned the jail would be searched the next day, he attempted to hide the drugs in the shower area. They were found by correctional officers.
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Methamphetamine smuggled into the Cibola County Correctional Center by Rayshawn Boyce. (United States Department of Justice)
Buyers paid Torres via a CashApp account that Boyce told her to set up for the drug transactions.
Torres pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and remains in jail while she awaits sentencing. She helped successfully smuggle marijuana into the prison on two separate occasions.
Boyce has not yet been sentenced for the robbery of the postal worker or the drug trafficking charges. He remains in jail awaiting sentencing.
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He faces up to 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release in the robbery case. In the drug trafficking case, he faces a mandatory minimum term of 10 years, with a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The U.S. Department of Justice seal is displayed following a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 20, 2018. (Yuri Gripas/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to acting U.S. Attorney Holland S. Kastrin, who prosecuted the case.
