KFDA - NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo, TX: newschannel10.comFormer Hockley County sheriff's deputy pleads guilty

Former Hockley County sheriff's deputy pleads guilty

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - A former Hockley County deputy is waiting to be sentenced after pleading guilty Thursday for his involvement in this summer's methamphetamine drug bust in Levelland.

In court Thursday, former Narcotics Officer Jesse Quintanilla shook hands and embraced loved ones as they cried after he pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony. Basically that means Quintanilla failed to report information he knew about a felony being committed. Quintanilla could face a maximum of three years in prison. He is the first of two Hockley County deputies to plead guilty for their involvement in the meth bust this July, based in Levelland. The other, former Chief Deputy Gordon Bohannan is still waiting to go to trial. Of the 28 arrested in the meth ring, over half have already pleaded guilty.

Three others besides Quintanilla also pleaded guilty Thursday for their involvement. They are: 49-year-old Clifford Leroy Clark of Arizona, 25-year-old Stephanie Rene McKee of Friona, and 46-year-old Marvin Lee Whittington from Lubbock.

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