Former New Mexico State Police Officer Daniel Capehart has been convicted by the state of New Mexico on two counts of distributing cannabis and a third count of distributing methamphetamine. Capehart had been engaged in drugs-for-sex schemes with teenage girls which included distributing drugs within a close radius of schools.

Prosecutors say Capehart pulled over a teen and her friend, obtained the girl’s phone number and birthday, and began texting her about an hour later. The girl and her father reported the texts to a San Juan County sheriff’s detective. Authorities say Capehart twice left marijuana intended for the girl at drop locations, once near a high school.

The FBI investigation revealed Capehart’s scheme in which he would arrest someone for transporting marijuana or cannabis supplies and give women some of the drugs in exchange for sex. The FBI made contact with another female who said she’d been texting Capehart for about nine months. Eventually, Capehart pulled over and arrested an undercover FBI agent, took the cannabis, and left it at a location near Central Primary Elementary School in Bloomfield, NM for the girl.

On multiple occasions, the amount of drugs exceeded five grams, and the infractions took place within 1,000 feet of a school. 

Capehart now faces from five to 40 years in prison for his relationships with young women and for illicitly providing them substances.