Prosecutors dismissed drug charges against a 37-year-old Ohkay Owingeh woman after Española police officers alleged they witnessed a hand-to-hand drug transaction.
The woman’s boyfriend, also arrested at the time, was indicted on gun charges in Tierra Amarilla District Court.
Officer Donivan Byers arrested Merina Archuleta on a charge of possession of fentanyl on Jan. 5, 2025, after he allegedly witnessed the exchange of money, from their car, for what he assumed were drugs. Once he approached the vehicle, he saw tooters, used to inhale smoked drugs, a scale and burnt foil. Then he saw a revolver cylinder with bullets next to it, Byers wrote in court documents.
Prosecutors dismissed the case against Archuleta without prejudice on April 23. The boilerplate notice states the case is dismissed “’pending further investigation,” meaning it could be brought again.
Her boyfriend, Manuel Salais, 40, of Española, waived a preliminary hearing on charges of unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon and unlawful sale of a firearm without a background check, in exchange for prosecutors offering a plea deal to charges of attempt to receive a stolen firearm and a sentence of probation, according to the waiver.
In Tierra Amarilla District Court, he was charged with receiving stolen property, a firearm; unlawful sale of a firearm without a background check and unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon, on March 7.
He was then wanted on a bench warrant for failure to appear at a court hearing on April 8 and was arrested on the warrant on April 16. He was released on April 18 but was wanted on another bench warrant issued on Sept. 2, again for failure to appear for a court hearing. His attorney moved to have that bench warrant quashed on Oct. 30, because he “regained communication” with his attorney and updated his mailing address.
The warrant was quashed on Nov. 6 and a status conference is set for sometime this month.
No plea deal proceedings have been scheduled.
Gun Charges
Byers wrote that officers found a 9mm pistol that dispatchers told him had been reported as stolen. Salais allegedly asked Byers if he was going to jail because of the gun, the officer wrote.
“Salais stated he was not a felon and that the firearm shouldn’t be stolen but that he purchased the firearm from a friend by exchanging money for the firearm and his friend writing down the firearm’s serial number on a piece of paper,” Byers wrote. “This was done without the lawful sale documentation of a federal firearms licensure.”
Byers wrote that Salais also didn’t have a concealed carry permit and the gun was in his waistband, covered by his shirt, as he sat in the car.