District of New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE – U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jack P. Staton of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso announced today that Stephen Mendoza Arellano, 30, of Las Cruces, N.M., pleaded guilty in federal court to traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in sexual contact with a minor.    The plea agreement recommends that Arellano be sentenced to a prison term of 57 to 71 months followed by 15 years of supervised release. 

HSI Special Agents arrested Arellano on Oct. 7, 2017, on a criminal complaint charging him with attempted production of child pornography, enticement of a child to engage in sexual activity, and travel to meet a minor to engage in sexual conduct between May 2017 and Aug. 2017 in Dona Ana County, N.M., and elsewhere.  At the time of his arrest, Arellano was an ordained minister of the Apostolic Assembly Church and was serving as the Church’s District of New Mexico Youth President.  According to the criminal complaint, Arellano traveled from Las Cruces to El Paso, Tex., with the intention of having illicit sexual contact with the child victim who was 15-years-old when he began contacting her.

The complaint noted that Arellano was a National Ordained Minister for the Apostolic Assembly Church, at the time, held the title of District of New Mexico Youth President, and was a member of the same church as the victim.  HSI initiated the investigation into Arellano after receiving a report from the parents of Arellano’s victim.  According to the criminal complaint, Arellano began communicating with the victim in a sexually explicit manner in May 2017, when the victim was fifteen-years-old; sent nude photos of himself to the victim and requested nude photos of the victim via cellular phone messaging between May 2017 and Aug. 2017; and engaged in sexual activity with the victim in July and Aug. 2017.  The investigation revealed that Arellano was aware of the victim’s age because he assisted in making a video for the victim’s Sweet 16 birthday party. 

During today’s proceedings, Arellano pled guilty to a felony information charging him with interstate travel with intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor.  In entering the guilty plea, Arellano admitted that in the early summer of 2017, he began to pursue a romantic relationship with the 15-year-old minor victim, whom he knew through the Apostolic Assembly Church and their families’ relationship.  Arellano admitted that in June 2017, he traveled from Las Cruces to El Paso, Texas, with the intent to engage in illicit sexual contact with the victim.  Arellano also admitted to attempting to engage in that contact.

Arellano has been in custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. 

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of HSI and the Las Cruces Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Ong as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.

ALBUQUERQUE – Gerald Soliz, 42, of Farmington, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to drug trafficking and firearms charges in three separate criminal cases.  Soliz’s plea agreement recommends a sentence within the range of 100 to 125 months of imprisonment.

Soliz and two other Farmington residents were charged in three separate indictments filed in July 2017, alleging drug trafficking and firearms offenses.  The indictments were the result of a multi-agency investigation into a drug trafficking organization allegedly trafficking methamphetamine, heroin and firearms in San Juan County, N.M.

The investigation, which was led by the FBI and the HIDTA Region II Task Force was designated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, a Department of Justice program that combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations. 

The first indictment charges Soliz with distributing methamphetamine on Nov. 3, 2016, Jan. 4, 2017, Jan. 17, 2017, and Jan. 30, 2017.  The second indictment charges Soliz and co-defendant Chad McKinney, 31, with being felons in possession of firearms and ammunition and possessing and transferring a machine gun on Dec. 14, 2016.  According to the second indictment, Soliz was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he had previously been convicted of possession of a controlled substance and child sexual assault, and McKinney was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because he had previously been convicted of forgery, unlawful taking of a vehicle and importing more than 50 kilograms of marijuana.  The third indictment charges Soliz and co-defendant Marcus McGee, 43, with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine from Dec. 1, 2016 through Dec. 3, 2016, and distributing methamphetamine on Dec. 3, 2016.  McGee was charged individually with distributing methamphetamine and heroin, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition on May 23, 2017.  McGee was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of possession of a controlled substance.

During today’s proceedings, Soliz entered a guilty plea to charges in the three separate indictments.  Specifically, Soliz pled guilty to two counts of distributing methamphetamine and to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

In entering the guilty plea, Soliz admitted that he distributed approximately 91.2 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent on Dec. 3, 2016, and approximately 249 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent on Jan. 4, 2017.  Soliz also admitted that on Dec. 14, 2016, he acted as the middleman to arrange the sale of a machinegun and participated in the sale of the machinegun to an undercover law enforcement agent.  Soliz acknowledged that he was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because he had previously been convicted of at least three separate felony offenses.  Soliz remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing that has yet to be scheduled.

McKinney and McGee have both entered pleas of not guilty to the charges against them.  Charges in indictments are only accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

These cases were investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the HIDTA Region II Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter J. Eicker is prosecuting the three cases.

The HIDTA Region II Task Force is comprised of officers and investigators from the Farmington Police Department, San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, Bloomfield Police Department and Aztec Police Department, and is part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.  HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.

ALBUQUERQUE – Alton Jay Cowboy, 48, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Crownpoint, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). 

SORNA, also known as the Adam Walsh Protection and Safety Act, requires that a convicted sex offender register in each jurisdiction where the offender resides, where the offender is employed, or where the offender is a student, and that the sex offender maintain current registrations.

Cowboy was charged by indictment on Feb. 27, 2018, with violating SORNA by failing to update his sex offender registration from April 4, 2017 through Dec. 27, 2017, in Bernalillo County, N.M. 

During today’s proceedings, Cowboy pled guilty to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement.  At sentencing, Cowboy faces a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison.  He will be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence pursuant to his previous conviction.  Cowboy remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Raquel Ruiz-Velez.

ALBUQUERQUE – Lorenzo A. Ruiz-Gonzalez, 26, entered a guilty plea to heroin and methamphetamine trafficking charges today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M.  Immediately thereafter, Ruiz-Gonzales was sentenced to 70 months of imprisonment.  He will be deported after completing his prison sentence.

Ruiz-Gonzalez , a Mexican national who had been residing in El Paso, Texas, was arrested in July 2017, after New Mexico State Police (NMSP) officers found approximately 1,061.1 grams of methamphetamine and 612 grams of heroin inside Ruiz-Gonzalez’s vehicle during a routine traffic stop on Interstate 10 in Dona Ana County, N.M. 

Today, Ruiz-Gonzalez pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine and heroin with intent to distribute.  In entering the guilty plea, Ruiz-Gonzalez admitted that on July 13, 2017, he drove a vehicle containing approximately 856.8 grams of methamphetamine and 493 grams of heroin.  Ruiz-Gonzalez admitted that he was in the process of delivering the drugs to another when he was pulled over by law enforcement for a traffic violation.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the NMSP.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brock E. Taylor of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative.  The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico.  Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities.  Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico. 

The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components:  (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning.  HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners.  Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative.  Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.

ALBUQUERQUE – Jose Diaz, 58, a businessman from El Paso, Texas, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to participating in a fraudulent scheme to defraud the United States out of millions of dollars through contracts involving the now defunct Big Crow Program Office at Kirtland Air Force Base in Bernalillo County, N.M. 

Diaz entered his guilty plea to three counts, a conspiracy charge and two fraud charges, of the 46-count Indictment in which he is charged.  Diaz’ plea agreement, attached to this press release, includes a nine and a half page admission of facts in which he acknowledges and accepts responsibility for the criminal conduct attributed to him in the indictment.

Diaz remains on conditions of release pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  His sentencing exposure on the charges to which he pleaded guilty, is discussed below.  Under the terms of the plea agreement, the United States will move to dismiss the remaining charges against Diaz after his sentencing hearing.

Summary of the Indictment

Diaz and three co-defendants, Milton Boutte, 72, of Moriarty, N.M., George Lowe, 56, of Fort Washington, Md., and Arturo Vargas, 55, of El Paso, Texas, were indicted in Nov. 2017, in a 46-count indictment charging them with perpetuating a fraudulent scheme to defraud the United States from Oct. 2004 through Feb. 2009, in Bernalillo County, N.M., and elsewhere.  The indictment generally alleged that the defendants perpetuated their scheme by submitting fraudulent invoices to federal agencies and fraudulently participating in a government program intended to promote minority-owned small businesses.  According to the indictment, beginning in fall 2004, Boutte, who was then the Director of the Big Crow Program Office, and Lowe, a lobbyist, conspired and schemed with Diaz and Vargas, owners of minority-owned small businesses who had contracts with the Big Crow Program Office, to pay lobbyists, consultants and contractors with funds fraudulently obtained from the United States.  The defendants allegedly did so even though the Big Crow Program Office was not authorized to lobby or to expend appropriated funds for lobbying activities under the contracts they were operating under.

The indictment alleged that the defendants facilitated their fraudulent scheme by exploiting a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) program intended to promote the development of small businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals by making them eligible to obtain sole-source contracts from government agencies without competitive bidding.  In April 1995, Diaz enrolled his company, Miratek, in the SBA program and in 2004 Miratek received a sole-source contract to provide technical and managerial support for the Big Crow Program Office.  After the sole-source contract was awarded to Miratek, the defendants allegedly conspired fraudulently to misapply funds to pay Lowe and other lobbyists for lobbying on Big Crow’s behalf, allegedly diverting at least $529,000 of the contract funds to pay Lowe and his firm, Broadcreek Associates.  This allegedly violated the conditions of the SBA program and of Miratek’s contract because lobbying services were not within the authorized scope of work and because Lowe was not an employee of Miratek.  In furtherance of their alleged frauds, the defendants allegedly disguised the nature of the claims for services purportedly provided by Lowe and other lobbyists.

The indictment alleged that, in April 2004, after Miratek’s eligibility for the SBA program expired, the defendants created a joint venture to take its place in the fraudulent scheme.  According to the indictment, Diaz and Vargas created a joint venture known as Vartek, LLC, to afford Diaz the ability to continue to have access to sole-source contracts under the SBA program and to enable the defendants to continue to perpetuate their scheme to defraud the United States.  The indictment alleges the SBA relied on the promises and representations of Diaz and Vargas and approved the Vartek joint venture on Dec. 20, 2005.  Vartek was awarded two sole-source contracts, valued at approximately $3,209,116 and $3,847,939, respectively, to provide technical and analytical support for the Big Crow Program Office similar to the contracts previously awarded to Miratek.

The indictment further alleged that Diaz and Vargas misappropriated funds authorized under the Vartek contracts to pay Lowe and other unauthorized lobbyists, consultants and contractors at Boutte’s direction.  Diaz and Vargas allegedly submitted fraudulent invoices to the U.S. Army Contracting Agency containing claims for payment for services purportedly provided by Lowe and other lobbyists, consultants and contractors.  To conceal and disguise the nature of those payments, the defendants allegedly misrepresented in those invoices that Lowe and other lobbyists, consultants and contractors were Vartek employees.  To further disguise the diversion of large sums, the defendants allegedly made fictional claims for work purportedly performed under the contracts by other persons.  The defendants allegedly fabricated the hours that those purported employees worked on the contracts.  Diaz and Vargas allegedly falsely represented that the lobbyists and consultants were “project managers” and billed the government at or near the highest rate allowed under the contracts.  In aggregate, the defendants fraudulently claimed and obtained payments under the Vartek contracts totaling more than $5,800,000 for lobbyists, consultants and unauthorized contractors, of which at least $506,000 was diverted and paid to Lowe and his firm, Broadcreek Associates.  Diaz also falsified and fabricated the hours that he himself worked under those contracts.

The indictment includes forfeiture provisions requiring that the defendants forfeit to the United States any property, real or personal, which constitutes or is derived from proceeds of their crime if the defendants are convicted of the offense of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Statutory Penalties for Charges in Indictment 17-CR-3338-JB

Count 1 charges Boutte, Diaz, Vargas and Lowe with conspiracy to defraud the United States with respect to claims, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 286, and carries a maximum penalty of ten years of imprisonment and a fine of not more than $250,000 or twice the pecuniary loss or gain.

Count 2 charges Boutte, Diaz, Vargas and Lowe, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349, and carries a maximum penalty of 20 years of imprisonment and a fine of not more than $250,000 or twice the pecuniary loss or gain.

Counts 3 and 4 charge Boutte, Diaz and Vargas with fraud against the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1031, and aiding and abetting such fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2.  Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years of imprisonment and a fine not more than $5,000,000 if the loss is less than $500,000, but not to exceed $10,000,000 in the aggregate.

Counts 5 through 46 charge certain of the defendants with making false, fictitious and fraudulent claims, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 287, and aiding and abetting the making of such claims, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2.  Each charge carries a maximum penalty of five years of imprisonment and a fine of not more than $250,000.  Counts 5 through 9 charge Boutte, Diaz and Lowe; Counts 10 through 22 charge Boutte, Diaz, Vargas and Lowe; Counts 23 through 24 charge Boutte, Diaz and Vargas; and Counts 25 through 46 charge Boutte, Diaz and Vargas. 

Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

The case was investigated by the Major Procurement Fraud Unit of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Command, Defense Criminal Investigations Services, Defense Contract Audit Agency – Investigative Support, and U.S. Small Business Administration Office – Office of Inspector General, and General Services Administration – Office of Inspector General.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy S. Vasquez and Jeremy Peña are prosecuting the case.

Plea Agreement

ALBUQUERQUE – Rosendo Flores Angulo, 40, a Mexican national, was sentenced today in federal court in Santa Fe, N.M., to 210 months of imprisonment for participating in a conspiracy to distribute heroin that resulted in the death of the user.  Angulo will be deported after he completes his prison sentence. 

This case was initiated on Sept. 18, 2015, by the filing of a criminal complaint charging Angulo with heroin trafficking charges based on a number of heroin sales to two undercover DEA agents in Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties, N.M., between July 2015 and Sept. 2015.  On Oct. 20, 2015, Angulo and co-defendant Curtis Hutchinson, 32, of Edgewood, N.M., were indicted and charged with participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy.  In addition to the conspiracy charge, the 17-count indictment charged both men with two counts of heroin distribution and Angulo alone with an additional 14 counts of heroin distribution.

On May 25, 2016, a federal grand jury returned an 18-count superseding indictment against Angulo and Hutchinson that added a “death resulting” count charging that the two men had conspired to distribute, and had distributed, heroin that resulted in the death of the person who used the drug.  According to the superseding indictment, on April 29, 2015, Angulo and Hutchinson distributed heroin to a person who died as a result of using that heroin.  The two men were charged with committing this crime in Bernalillo County. 

On March 8, 2017, Angulo entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him with conspiracy to distribute heroin.  In his plea agreement, Angulo admitted being a mid-level drug dealer who distributed heroin to low-level drug dealers and heroin users in Albuquerque in 2014 and 2015.  Hutchinson was one of the low-level drug dealers to whom Angulo supplied heroin.  Angulo admitted supplying heroin to Hutchinson on April 29, 2015, and acknowledged learning that Hutchinson sold some of the heroin to a young man, who collapsed and died after using the heroin.  The plea agreement states that a medical toxicologist concluded that the heroin was the cause of the young man’s death; the young man would not have died if he had not used the heroin.

Hutchinson previously pled guilty on Sept. 22, 2016, to conspiring with Angulo to distribute heroin that resulted in the death of a person who used the heroin.  When Hutchinson entered his guilty plea, he admitted selling $20.00 of heroin – approximately 0.25 of a gram – to an acquaintance on April 29, 2015, and acknowledged learning that the acquaintance died as result of using that heroin.  At sentencing, Hutchinson faces a statutory penalty of not less than 20 years and not more than life imprisonment.  He remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

The Albuquerque office of the DEA investigated this case, which is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy S. Vasquez, as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative. 

The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico.  Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities.  Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico. 

The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components:  (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning.  HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners.  Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative.  Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.

ALBUQUERQUE – Two former officers of a New Mexico-based defense contracting firm were sentenced late yesterday afternoon in federal court in Santa Fe, N.M., for convictions arising out of their involvement in a scheme to solicit and accept kickbacks in return for favorable treatment in awarding subcontracts relating to wartime rebuilding projects in Iraq. 

Senior U.S. District Judge Martha Vazquez sentenced Neal Kasper, 68, of Great Falls, MT, to 41 months of imprisonment followed by two years of supervised release.  Kasper also was ordered to forfeit to the United States $431,911, which represents part of the net profit he derived from the crimes with which he was charged in this case.  Of this amount, Kasper is wholly responsible for $303,084 and jointly responsible with White for $136,827.  Judge Vazquez sentenced Kasper’s wife, Tiffany White, 51, of Cibolo, Tex., to one day of imprisonment, or time served, followed by two years of supervised release.  White also was ordered to pay $33,997 in restitution to the IRS and to forfeit jointly with Kasper $136,827 to the United States.

The sentences were announced by U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge Terry Wade of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division, Special Agent in Charge Ismael Nevarez, Jr., of the Phoenix Field Office of IRS Criminal Investigation, and Special Agent in Charge Janice M. Flores of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service Southwest Field Office in Arlington, Tex.

Kasper and White are former officers of a New Mexico-based defense contractor, who, together with Bradley Christiansen and Sara Christiansen, both of Albuquerque, and four foreign nationals, were charged with conspiring to defraud the United States of more than $5 million through wire fraud in an indictment filed in Feb. 2012.  The indictment also charged the defendants with wire fraud offenses and with offering and receiving illegal kickbacks.  In addition, Kasper, White, Christiansen and Sara Christiansen were charged with money laundering offenses, and Christiansen with tax evasion offenses.  The indictment was superseded in Aug. 2013, after Christiansen entered a guilty plea and the charges against Sara Christiansen and one of the foreign nationals were dismissed.  Kasper and White entered guilty pleas in Feb. 2016.

According to court filings, during the Iraqi war and continuing through 2011, the United States funded numerous construction and rebuilding projects in Iraq and Jordan, including contracts administered by the United States Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment (AFCEE).  Laguna Construction Company, Inc. (LCC), a minority disadvantaged business wholly owned by the Pueblo of Laguna, successfully bid and was awarded multiple contracts, including AFCEE contracts, for wartime reconstruction and rebuilding projects in Iraq and Jordan.  From 2003 through 2009, LCC administered more than $350 million of Iraqi and Jordanian reconstruction contracts. 

LCC was required to award subcontracts to foreign companies by generating requests for proposals and soliciting independent subcontract bids from qualified foreign companies.  All subcontract bids were required to be independently prepared by the subcontractors without collusion from LCC, and LCC was required objectively to evaluate the bids and to award the subcontracts to the lowest qualified bidders.  LCC and its personnel were prohibited from accepting anything of value, whether gifts, bribes or kickbacks, from the bidders.  According to the superseding indictment, from Jan. 2004 through Feb. 2009, Kasper, Christiansen and White, who were officers and employees of LCC but not members of the Pueblo of Laguna, conspired with the four foreign nationals to defraud the United States of more than $5 million.  They also conspired to launder the illegal kickbacks they received from the foreign nationals to conceal the unlawful nature of the proceeds.

Court filings reflect that AFCEE awarded two prime contracts to LCC relating to United States’ reconstruction efforts in Iraq, which required LCC to serve as a prime contractor and provide construction management services in response to task orders from AFCEE.  From 2003 through 2009, LCC received and administered approximately $397 million through the two contracts which contemplated that LCC would award work to subcontractors to complete reconstruction projects.  Christiansen was hired as a LCC division manager in 2002 by Kasper, who was then president of LCC, and became LCC’s operations manager and vice president of operations in 2005.  In that capacity, Christiansen oversaw all LCC Iraq reconstruction projects under the supervision of Kasper, who was in charge of all of LCC’s construction operations, including those involving wartime reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Jordan.

Beginning in Dec. 2004, Kasper, Christiansen, White and others sought and obtained payments for task orders under the prime contracts under false pretenses by repeatedly certifying that all subcontracts were awarded pursuant to competitive bidding procedures when in fact they were accepting kickbacks from subcontractors in return for awarding subcontracts to them.  From Dec. 2004 through Feb. 2009, Kasper, Christiansen, White and others conspired with the four foreign nationals to defraud the United States by soliciting and accepting kickbacks from the foreign nationals in return for awarding them subcontracts.  Kasper and Christiansen accepted numerous kickbacks from the foreign nationals.

During his change of plea hearing on Feb. 26, 2016, Kasper pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to provide, solicit and accept kickbacks.  In his plea agreement, Kasper admitted that from Dec. 2005 through Feb. 2009, while he was President of LCC, he conspired with others to accept improper payments from subcontractors in connection with subcontracts let by LCC.  Kasper also admitted accepting wire transfers totaling $204,356 in improper payments from subcontractors between April 2007 and Nov. 2008.

Also on Feb. 26, 2016, White pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge in the superseding indictment and a felony information charging her with one count of filing a false tax return.  In her plea agreement, White admitted that while she was LCC’s Compliance Manager for federal contracts, she submitted subcontract bids to Kasper and Christiansen without proper compliance review and with knowledge that the bids would be altered so that particular subcontractors would be selected.  The selected subcontractors then paid kickbacks to Kasper, Christiansen and White.  White’s plea agreement provides details of how the kickback scheme operated and how Kasper, Christiansen and she used illegal kickbacks to pay for improvements to their homes and for other personal purposes.  White also admitted failing to declare $93,912 she received in illegal kickbacks as income when she filed her 2008 federal tax return.

Christiansen pled guilty in July 2013, to conspiracy to provide, solicit and accept kickbacks and to solicitation and receipt of kickbacks and tax evasion, respectively.  In his plea agreement, Christiansen admitted receiving his first kickback in Dec. 2004, through Kasper, who had received a $20,000 kickback and shared half with Christiansen.  According to Christiansen, from Jan. 2005 through Feb. 2009, Kasper and he received numerous kickbacks from the foreign nationals, which they split 50/50.  In addition to approximately $360,000 in monetary kickbacks, Christiansen also admitting to receiving a 2006 Porsche Cayman valued at $65,163, a Ford GT350 Shelby valued at $290,000, several watches valued at an aggregate of $103,800 as kickbacks from the foreign nationals.  Christiansen also admitted that he willfully failed to declare the kickback payments and assets he received from the foreign nationals as personal income when filing his federal income tax returns in 2006, 2007 and 2008.  As a result, Christiansen evaded approximately $389,413 in federal taxes.

The three foreign nationals who remain under indictment, Ramzi Snobar and Yacoub Snobar, citizens of Jordan, and Mustapha Ahmad, a dual citizen of Lebanon and Great Britain, have yet to be arrested and are considered fugitives.  The charges in the indictment against these three defendants are merely allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathon M. Gerson and Shana B. Long, and was investigated by the Albuquerque Division of the FBI, the Albuquerque office of IRS Criminal Investigation, the Southwest Field Office of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Defense Contract Audit Agency.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Kotz is handling the related forfeiture proceedings.

ALBUQUERQUE – Antoinette Garcia, 45, of Bernalillo, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to committing federal program fraud.

Garcia was indicted on June 28, 2017, and was charged with committing federal program fraud by embezzling federal education grant funds received by the Bernalillo Public Schools system between Jan. 2014 and Dec. 2015.  According to the indictment, the Bernalillo Public Schools system received benefits in excess of $10,000 of federal education grants in 2014 and 2015.  The indictment alleged that, during each of those two years, Garcia was an agent of the Bernalillo Public Schools system and embezzled and stole at least $5,000 that had been entrusted to the Schools system.  The indictment alleged that Garcia committed the offenses in Sandoval County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, Garcia pled guilty to the indictment, and admitted that in 2014 and 2015, she stole between $40,000 and $95,000 intended for the Bernalillo Public Schools system.  Garcia admitted stealing funds that were intended to pay for childrens’ education and supplies, and by writing herself checks with school money instead of paying school-related expenses. 

At sentencing, Garcia faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years of imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and restitution as ordered by the Court.  A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Mysliwiec.

ALBUQUERQUE – Jesse Furse, 35, of Albuquerque. N.M., pled guilty today to federal child pornography offenses.  At the time he committed the offenses, Furse was a Lieutenant with the U.S. Air Force and was stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base.

Furse was arrested on Feb. 10, 2017, on a criminal complaint alleging child pornography charges.  The investigation into the case was initiated in Oct. 2015, when an agent with the New Mexico Internet Crimes against Children (ICAC) Task Force came upon a device using a specific IP address that allegedly was being used to share child pornography.  In Jan. 2016, after investigation by APD revealed that the IP address was registered to Furse at an address located on Kirtland Air Force Base, the investigation was referred to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI).  On Jan. 29, 2016, AFOSI obtained a search warrant for Furse’s residence from a Military Magistrate, and AFOSI and APD executed the search warrant and seized a computer and computer-related media from Furse’s residence.  The FBI joined the investigation in Feb. 2016, and obtained a federal search warrant for the computer-related evidence seized from Furse’s residence in March 2016.

Court documents indicate that the computer-related evidence seized from Furse’s residence was encrypted, and experts at the FBI’s Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory (RCFL) repeatedly attempted to access the computer-related evidence between March 2016 and Feb. 2017.  In Feb. 2017, RCFL experts were able to access the computer-related evidence, and a preliminary review of the contents of a hard drive seized from Furse’s residence indicated that it contained approximately 1400 video files of child pornography.

Furse subsequently was charged on Feb. 28, 2017, in a nine-count indictment with distributing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct on eight occasions between Oct. 2015 and Jan. 2016, and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct between May 2014 and Jan. 2016.  The indictment charged Furse with committing the crimes in Bernalillo County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, Furse pled guilty to the nine-count indictment.  In entering the guilty plea, Furse admitted that he made available for sharing, through online peer-to-peer file sharing software, approximately 58,529 image and video files containing child pornography on eight occasions between Oct. 10, 2015 and Jan. 17, 2016.  Furse further admitted that from March 2015 through Jan. 2016, he possessed an external hard drive that contained approximately 1,436 video files and 13,335 image files of child pornography.

At sentencing, Furse faces a statutory mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years of imprisonment on the distribution charges, and a statutory maximum of 20 years of imprisonment on the possession charge. 

The investigation of this case was handled by the Albuquerque office of the FBI, New Mexico ICAC Task Force, AFOSI, APD, and RCFL.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Mease and Jonathon M. Gerson are prosecuting the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.

The case also was brought as a part of the New Mexico (ICAC) Task Force’s mission, which is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico.  There are 86 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General.  Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.

ALBUQUERQUE – Jeffrey Chavez, 32, of Grants, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 70 months in prison for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.  Chavez will be on supervised release for four years after completing his prison sentence.

Chavez was arrested on March 10, 2017, on an indictment charging him with distributing methamphetamine on June 11, 2015, in Cibola County, N.M.  On Oct. 4, 2017, Chavez pled guilty to a felony information charging him with distributing methamphetamine.  In entering the guilty plea, Chavez admitted that on June 11, 2015, he sold approximately 82.8 grams of pure methamphetamine to an individual working with law enforcement in exchange for $1,800. 

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the DEA, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer M. Rozzoni.

ALBUQUERQUE – Jamie Moreno, 34, of Carlsbad, N.M., pled guilty this afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to methamphetamine trafficking charges.

Moreno and co-defendant Jesus Sanchez, 30, also of Carlsbad, were arrested in Feb. 2018, on a seven-count indictment charging them with methamphetamine trafficking offenses.  Moreno and Sanchez were charged with conspiracy and distributing methamphetamine on Sept. 28, 2017.  The indictment also charged Sanchez with distributing methamphetamine on May 23, 2017, June 1, 2017, June 30, 2017, Aug. 16, 2017, and Aug. 23, 2017.  According to the indictment, Moreno and Sanchez committed the offenses in Eddy County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, Moreno pled guilty to Counts 6 and 7, charging her with conspiracy and distribution of methamphetamine.  In entering the guilty plea, Moreno admitted that on Sept. 28, 2017, she distributed approximately 427.7 grams of pure methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent. 

At sentencing, Moreno faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison.  She remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.

Sanchez has entered a plea of not guilty to the charges against him.  Charges in indictments are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law. 

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the New Mexico State Police.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander B. Shapiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Gilbert J. Zuni, 31, an enrolled member of the Isleta Pueblo who resides in Bosque Farms, N.M., was sentenced yesterday afternoon in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 33 months of imprisonment for his conviction on a robbery charge.  Zuni will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

Zuni was charged with robbery in a felony information filed on Dec. 19, 2017.  The information charged that Zuni committed the offense by unlawfully taking a purse and its contents on July 8, 2016, on Laguna Pueblo in Bernalillo County, N.M. 

Zuni pled guilty to the felony information on Dec. 19, 2017, and admitted that on July 8, 2016, while at the Route 66 Casino on the Laguna Pueblo, he followed the victim to her vehicle, pushed the victim down, retrieved her purse from the floorboard of her vehicle, and fled in a vehicle driven by another person.  Zuni admitted the purse contained checks and credit cards, and that the victim reported a loss of approximately $2,462.47. 

This case was investigated by the Laguna/Acoma Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Novaline D. Wilson.

ALBUQUERQUE – Nathan Berke, 38, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court to drug trafficking, firearms, mail theft, and aggravated identity theft charges under a plea agreement that recommends that he be sentenced to a term of imprisonment within the range of 120 to 204 months.  The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson and Inspector in Charge Melisa Llosa of the Phoenix Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. 

Berke and co-defendant Joann Bell, 37, also of Albuquerque, were charged on May 24, 2017, in a 14-count indictment with drug trafficking, firearms, mail theft, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft offenses.  Bell pled guilty in Dec. 2017, and on Dec. 5, 2017, a superseding indictment charging Berke individually, was filed.

The 13-count superseding indictment charged Berke with the following offenses:  participation in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy in July 2016, in Bernalillo County; possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on July 28, 2016, in Bernalillo County; using a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on July 28, 2016, in Bernalillo County; possession of stolen mail on July 28, 2016, in Bernalillo County; possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on Aug. 9, 2016, in San Juan County; being a felon in possession of a firearm on July 28, 2016, in Bernalillo County; possession of stolen mail on Aug. 9, 2016, in San Juan County; and three counts of bank fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft from July 23, 2016 through July 25, 2016, in New Mexico.

During today’s proceedings, Berke pled guilty to a four-count felony information charging him with conspiracy, two counts of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and using a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  Additionally, Berke pled guilty to Counts 5 through 13 of the superseding indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm, two counts of possession of stolen mail, three counts of bank fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft. 

In entering the guilty plea, Berke admitted the following:

• On July 28, 2016, Berke possessed 100 grams of methamphetamine in Bernalillo County, which he intended to distribute to others, stolen mail, and two loaded firearms.  Berke also acknowledged that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his status as a convicted felon. 
• On Aug. 9, 2016, Berke possessed approximately 105 grams of methamphetamine in San Juan County, which he intended to distribute to others, and stolen mail.
• Between July 23, 2016 and July 25, 2016, Berke used identity information from stolen mail and counterfeit identifications to pass counterfeit and unauthorized checks in the names of others to purchase gift cards at Albuquerque-area stores, which he then sold to others for cash.  Berke also admitted that in this time-period, he attempted to open a membership account at an Albuquerque-area store using a counterfeit check, counterfeit identifications and a drivers’ license in the name of another person.

On Dec. 14, 2017, Bell pled guilty to conspiracy, possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and possessing stolen mail.  In entering the guilty plea, Bell admitted that on July 28, 2016, she and another person possessed approximately 100 grams of methamphetamine, which they intended to distribute to others.  Bell also admitted that on that same day, she possessed mail that belonged to others but had been stolen from an authorized depository for U.S. mail.  Bell entered her guilty plea under a plea agreement that recommended the imposition of a sentence of five years of imprisonment.

Bell previously had been arrested in Sept. 2016, on a criminal complaint charging her with repeatedly stealing mail from U.S. Postal Service mail collection boxes located outside of U.S. Post Offices in Albuquerque by using a “fishing” device she fed into the mailbox to “fish” mail out.   Bell was indicted in this case on Oct. 12, 2016, and was charged with stealing and receiving stolen mail on Sept. 18, 2016 in Bernalillo County.  On March 30, 2017, Bell pled guilty to the indictment and admitted using a “fishing” device to pull mail out of USPS collection boxes on Sept. 17 and 18, 2016.  The sentence imposed in that case will run concurrent to the five-year term of imprisonment to be imposed on Bell based on the guilty plea entered in Dec. 2017. 

Berke and Bell both remain in custody pending sentencing hearings, which have yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with assistance from the DEA and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas Jon Ganjei and Sean J. Sullivan.

ALBUQUERQUE – Frank Lara, 45, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty yesterday afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to methamphetamine trafficking charges.

Lara and co-defendant Esmeralda Dominguez, 33, of Glendale, Ariz., were charged by criminal complaint in July 2017, with methamphetamine trafficking offenses.  According to the complaint, Lara and Dominguez distributed approximately 56.09 grams of 99% pure methamphetamine to an individual working with law enforcement on July 15, 2016, in Dona Ana County, N.M.

Lara and Dominguez subsequently were charged in a two-count indictment filed on Oct. 19, 2017, with participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from July 14, 2016 through July 15, 2016, and distributing methamphetamine on July 15, 2016.  According to the indictment, the defendants committed the crimes in Dona Ana County.

During yesterday’s proceedings, Lara pled guilty to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement.  Dominguez previously entered a similar guilty plea on Feb. 20, 2018.  At sentencing, each of the defendants faces a mandatory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum of life in federal prison.  Sentencing hearings have yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the DEA and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis A. Martinez.

ALBUQUERQUE – Aris Jaramillo, 36, a non-Indian man residing in Encinal, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to a child abuse charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Jaramillo was arrested in Aug. 2017, on a criminal complaint charging him with engaging in child abuse on Aug. 13, 2017, on the Laguna Pueblo in Cibola County, N.M.  According to the complaint, Jaramillo struck a Laguna Pueblo child multiple times in the head.

During today’s proceedings, Jaramillo pled guilty to an information charging him with child abuse.  In entering the guilty plea, Jaramillo admitted that on Aug. 13, 2017, he became upset and hit the victim several times in the head and left red marks on the victim’s head. 

At sentencing, Jaramillo faces a maximum penalty of three years in federal prison.  A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Laguna/Acoma Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and the Laguna Pueblo Tribal Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Marshall.

ALBUQUERQUE – Adrianne D. Marquez, 42, of Socorro, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M, to a misdemeanor charge of theft of government property.

Marquez was charged in a misdemeanor information filed on Jan. 23, 2018, with theft of government funds from Jan. 1, 2017 through July 12, 2017, in Socorro County, N.M.  According to the information, Marquez intentionally stole money from the United States in an amount less than $1,000 by writing herself U.S. Postal Service money orders and not paying the U.S. Postal Service for them.

During today’s proceedings, Marquez pled guilty to the misdemeanor information without the benefit of a plea agreement.  At sentencing, Marquez faces a maximum penalty of one year in federal prison and a fine up to $100,000.  A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Mysliwiec.

ALBUQUERQUE – William L. Thrash, 51, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 144 months in prison for violating the federal firearms laws by brandishing a short-barreled shotgun during the armed robbery of an Albuquerque-area convenience store in March 2017.  Thrash will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

Special Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Thrash in Sept. 2017, on a criminal complaint.  The criminal complaint charged Thrash with violating the Hobbs Act by robbing two businesses engaged in interstate commerce at gunpoint, brandishing a firearm during crimes of violence, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.  According to the criminal complaint, Thrash committed one of the Hobbs Act robberies by robbing an Albuquerque-area convenience store on March 14, 2017, and the second robbery by robbing a medical marijuana dispensary located in Bernalillo County, N.M., on April 15, 2017. 

 On April 19, 2017, officers of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) arrested Thrash on state charges, which have since been dismissed in favor of federal prosecution, while executing a state search warrant at a hotel room in which Thrash was residing.  During the search, the officers seized a firearm and ammunition.  At the time, Thrash was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted on numerous felony offenses, including being a felon in possession of a firearm, auto burglary, escape, child abuse or abandonment, battery on a peace officer, and possession of a deadly weapon or an explosive by a prisoner.  

On Dec. 13, 2017, Thrash pled guilty to a felony information charging him with using and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.  In entering the guilty plea, Thrash admitted brandishing a short-barreled shotgun at store employees when he robbed an Albuquerque-area convenience store on March 14, 2017. 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and APD, with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney George C. Kraehe as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets violent, repeat offenders for federal prosecution.  Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target for federal prosecution violent or repeat offenders with the goal of removing them from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

ALBUQUERQUE – Raylan Reano, 25, an enrolled member and resident of Zuni Pueblo, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to an involuntary manslaughter charge.

Reano was arrested in Dec. 2017, on an indictment charging him with killing a woman on Oct. 23, 2016, on the Zuni Pueblo in McKinley County, N.M.  According to the indictment, Reano killed the victim while driving under the influence of alcohol. 

During today’s proceedings, Reano pled guilty to the indictment charging him with involuntary manslaughter and admitted killing the victim while driving recklessly while under the influence of alcohol.  Reano acknowledged that the alcohol rendered him incapable of exercising clear judgment and a steady hand in operating the vehicle.

At sentencing, Reano faces a maximum statutory penalty of eight years in federal prison.  A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Gallup office of the FBI and the Zuni Pueblo Tribal Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Mease is prosecuting the case. 

ALBUQUERQUE – Sergio Olivas, 31, of Roswell, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to a methamphetamine trafficking charge.

Olivas was arrested on Jan. 22, 2018, on an indictment charging him with possession of more than 50 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  According to the indictment, Olivas committed the offense on Dec. 4, 2017, in Chaves County, N.M.

During today’s change of plea hearing, Olivas pled guilty to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement.  At sentencing, Olivas faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison.  He remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of Homeland Security Investigations and the Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee L. Camacho of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

The HIDTA Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force is comprised of investigators from the Roswell Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI and the Chaves County Sherriff’s Office.  The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.  HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.

ALBUQUERQUE – Patrick Begay, 35, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Ramah, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to assault charges.

Begay was arrested on Jan. 23, 2018, on a three-count indictment charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon, a baseball bat, with intent to do bodily harm; assault with a dangerous weapon, a knife, with intent to do bodily harm; and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.  According to the indictment, Begay committed the offenses on May 12, 2017, on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Cibola County, N.M.

During today’s hearing, Begay pled guilty to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement.  At sentencing, Begay faces a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison.  He remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Gallup office of the FBI and the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Spindle is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Ernest A. Casias, 37, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 36 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for assaulting a federal law enforcement officer.

Casias was arrested on Jan. 4, 2017, on a criminal complaint charging him with assaulting a federal employee on Jan. 3, 2017, in Bernalillo County, N.M.  According to the complaint, Casias assaulted a Task Force Officer of the South West Investigative Fugitive Team (SWIFT) of the U.S. Marshals Service by using his vehicle as a weapon when he rammed his vehicle into a government vehicle operated by the Task Force Officer.  According to the complaint, Casias committed the assault when SWIFT Officers were executing arrest warrants on Casias for the underlying charges of failure to comply with probation, aggravated battery, battery against a household member and placing a child in a situation where the child is endangered. 

Casias was subsequently indicted on Jan. 24, 2017, and charged with assaulting and resisting a federal officer by ramming his vehicle into a vehicle operated by a federal officer on Jan. 3, 2017, in Bernalillo County.  On Dec. 1, 2017, Casias pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on Jan. 3, 2017, he assaulted a federal employee by driving his vehicle into a vehicle operated by a federal employee at a high rate of speed because SWIFT officers were attempting to contain Casias’ vehicle and arrest him.

This case was investigated by the South West Investigative Fugitive Team (SWIFT) of the U.S. Marshals Service for the District of New Mexico and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eva Fontanez.

ALBUQUERQUE – Kathryn Cojo, 33, an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Nation who resides in Mescalero, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to an assault charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Cojo was arrested in March 2017, on a two-count indictment charging her with assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.  According to the indictment, Cojo committed the crimes on Nov. 15, 2015, on the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation in Rio Arriba County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, Cojo pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment charging her with assault with a dangerous weapon.  In entering the guilty plea, Cojo admitted assaulting a man by striking him with a sharp object in the neck, back and abdomen, and that the victim required stitches and medical attention as the result of the assault.  Cojo admitted committing the assault on Nov. 15, 2015, on the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation.

At sentencing, Cojo faces a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison.  A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Jicarilla Apache Tribal Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Marshall.

ALBUQUERQUE – The leaders of a Taos County-based drug trafficking organization were sentenced yesterday to lengthy terms of incarceration for convictions on heroin trafficking and firearms charges arising out of a DEA-led multi-agency investigation.  Ivan Romero, 41, of El Prado, N.M., was sentenced to 130 months of imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release, while his brother, Ricco Romero, 28, of Taos, N.M., was sentenced to 120 months of imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release.  Each of the defendants was ordered to forfeit $448,590 in cash, and Rico Romero also was ordered to forfeit two firearms.  Additionally, each defendant was ordered to pay $15,000 in community restitution.   

Ivan Romero, Ricco Romero, and six co-defendants initially were charged with methamphetamine trafficking, heroin trafficking and money laundering offenses in an eight-count indictment filed in Dec. 2015.  The indictment was superseded in Feb. 2016 to add another defendant, Elena Carabajal, 27, of El Prado, and five additional charges.  The superseding indictment charged Ivan Romero, Ricco Romero and seven co-defendants with conspiring to distribute heroin and methamphetamine from at least June 2012 through Dec. 2015.  It also charged Ivan Romero, Ricco Romero, Melissa Romero, 38, of El Prado, and Wilma Romero, 67, of Taos, with conspiring to launder heroin trafficking proceeds.  The superseding indictment also included substantive heroin trafficking charges against several of the defendants as well as provisions seeking forfeiture to the United States of all assets and property derived, either directly or indirectly, from proceeds obtained from the criminal activities charged.

Ivan Romero and Ricco Romero both entered guilty pleas on Dec. 5, 2016.  Both men admitted participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy and a money laundering conspiracy, and Ricco Romero also admitted possessing firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking activities.  According to the admissions contained in their plea agreements and other court filings, Ivan Romero was the leader of a heroin trafficking organization based in Taos County.  Ivan Romero and Ricco Romero were responsible for purchasing quantities of heroin from suppliers in Albuquerque and Los Lunas, N.M.  Other members of the organization acted as couriers and regularly transported large quantities of heroin to Ivan Romero and Ricco Romero in Taos County.  Upon receiving the bulk heroin, Ivan Romero and Ricco Romero prepared the heroin for distribution by mixing or “cutting” it with other substances, repackaged it in smaller portions, and distributed it both directly and through a network of other drug dealers.  Juanita Romero, 36, of Chamisa, N.M., was one such dealer who distributed heroin in and around Penasco.

In April 2015, law enforcement officers executed a state search warrant at Ivan Romero’s residence where they seized drug paraphernalia, 461 grams of marijuana, 30 grams of hashish, more than 300 grams of heroin, and $64,920 in cash.  Ivan Romero was arrested on state charges that day, and Ricco Romero assumed a greater managerial role in the heroin trafficking organization at that time. 

Following Ivan Romero’s arrest on April 2, 2015, a state court set his bond at $90,000. Wilma Romero, Ricco Romero and Melissa Romero conspired to launder $90,000 in heroin proceeds to post that bond and secure Ivan Romero’s release from state custody.  Ivan Romero soon violated the conditions of his release, was remanded back to state custody and a second bond was set at $150,000.  In May 2015, Wilma Romero, Ricco Romero and Melissa Romero again conspired to launder an additional $150,000 in heroin proceeds to post that bond

On June 29, 2015, law enforcement agents executed a federal search warrant at Wilma Romero’s residence.  In the course of that search, agents seized approximately 97.5 grams of heroin, a small amount of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, $73,288, and gold coins.

On Nov. 17, 2015 and Dec. 1, 2015, Ricco Romero distributed heroin to an individual working with law enforcement agents.  Thereafter, on Dec. 18, 2015, law enforcement agents obtained and executed a federal search warrant at Ricco Romero and Carabajal’s residence and at another residence where Ricco Romero and Carabajal maintained a safe.  During those searches, agents seized 96.8 grams of heroin, $70,562 in cash, and two firearms. 

Ivan and Ricco Romero’s seven co-defendants have all entered guilty pleas:

• Nicholas Baca, 31, of Cerro, N.M., pled guilty in Feb. 2017, to participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy, and was sentenced on June 14, 2017, to time served followed by five years of supervised release;
• Juanita Romero, 36, of Chamisa, N.M., pled guilty in Feb. 2017, to participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy, and was sentenced on June 14, 2017, to time served followed by five years of supervised release;
• Melissa Romero pled guilty in Dec. 2016, to participating in the money laundering conspiracy, and was sentenced on June 14, 2017, to three years of probation;
• Elena Carabajal pled guilty in Jan. 2017, to possession of heroin with intent to distribute, and was sentenced on June 13, 2017, to a year and a day in prison followed by five years of supervised release; and
• Wilma Romero, pled guilty in Jan. 2017, to participating in the money laundering conspiracy and possessing heroin with intent to distribute, and was sentenced on Nov. 9, 2017 to 24 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

• Tyler Baker, 36, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty in Oct. 2016 to participating in the heroin trafficking conspiracy;
• Jason Duran. 43, of Albuquerque, pled guilty in Dec. 2017, to participating in the heroin trafficking conspiracy.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Duran will be sentenced to a maximum of 100 months in federal prison.

The investigation leading to the indictment was conducted by the Albuquerque office of the DEA, the HIDTA Region III Drug Task Force, New Mexico State Police, Taos Police Department, Taos County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy S. Vasquez is prosecuting the case as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative.  The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico.  Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities.  Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico. 

The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components:  (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning.  HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners.  Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative.  Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.

ALBUQUERQUE – Ricky Joe Garcia, 53, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 184 months in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction and a supervised release violation.

Garcia and co-defendants Kenneth Matthew Adame, 25, and Christopher Michael Sanchez, 25, both of Las Cruces, were arrested in April 2017, and were charged by criminal complaint with participating in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy on April 10, 2017, in Dona Ana County, N.M.  According to the complaint, on that day, Adame, Garcia and Sanchez sold approximately 497.22 grams of methamphetamine to undercover law enforcement agents.

On Aug. 2, 2017, Garcia pled guilty to a two-count felony information charging him with conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  In entering the guilty plea, Garcia admitted that in April 2017, he entered into an agreement with his co-defendants to sell methamphetamine to another person.  Garcia further admitted that on April 10, 2017, he sold approximately 497 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent.  During today’s sentencing hearing, Garcia also admitted to violating his conditions of release by committing another federal crime.

Adame pled guilty to methamphetamine trafficking charges on June 21, 2017, and was sentenced on Feb. 14, 2018, to 60 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.  Sanchez pled guilty to methamphetamine trafficking charges on July 19, 2017, and was sentenced on Nov. 27, 2017, to 60 months in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release. 

This case was investigated by the Border Enforcement Security Taskforce of Homeland Security Investigations and the HIDTA Region VII Drug Task Force, a multi-agency task force that conducts long term investigations targeting regional, national and international drug trafficking organizations that operate in Luna, Hidalgo and Grant counties and follow-up on cases resulting from U.S. Border Patrol and New Mexico State Police interdiction efforts.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brock E. Taylor of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.  HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.

ALBUQUERQUE – This afternoon, U.S. District Judge James O. Browning sentenced Kevin Folse, 32, of Albuquerque, N.M., to 360 months of imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release for his conviction on carjacking and firearms charges.  The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge John J. Durastanti of the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Chief of Police Michael Geier of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).

Folse, a career criminal whose conviction history includes prior felony convictions for receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, marijuana trafficking, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, was prosecuted as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets violent, repeat offenders for federal prosecution.  Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target for federal prosecution violent or repeat offenders with the goal of removing them from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Anderson said, “The violent criminal conduct that has been the hallmark of Kevin Folse’s career threatens the safety of all citizens.  My Office will not hesitate to act to protect our families and neighborhoods from repeat violent offenders like Mr. Folse.” 

“This is a textbook example of good solid police work and the value of law enforcement partnerships.  I wish to commend the work of the ATF agents, the Albuquerque Police Department and the U.S. Attorney in bringing this career criminal to justice,” stated ATF Special Agent in Charge Durastanti. 

“It is critically important that we hold career criminals accountable for their actions, especially those with no regard for the safety of law-abiding citizens,” said APD Chief Geier.  ‘We are thankful to our law enforcement partners who helped to bring justice in this case and successfully prosecute a dangerous criminal.”

Folse initially was charged on July 6, 2015, by criminal complaint with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.  Folse subsequently was indicted on July 14, 2015, and was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, carjacking, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.  Folse was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his status as a convicted felon.  A superseding indictment was filed on Sept. 10, 2015, charging Folse with a second carjacking on July 2, 2015, and with using a firearm to commit that crime.  This second firearms charge was subsequently dismissed on the United States’ motion.  

Trial of Folse on the superseding indictment began on Oct. 5, 2015, and concluded on Oct. 8, 2015, when the jury returned a guilty verdict against Folse on all the four charges against him.  The evidence at trial established that Folse committed the first carjacking around 11:00 a.m. on July 2, 2015, in an effort to evade APD officers who were trying to locate him as part of a stolen vehicle investigation.  Earlier that morning, while APD officers were conducting surveillance on a house in which they believed Folse to be staying, they caught the attention of a man who was in the house  and asked him to open the front door. 

When the man went to the door, he encountered Folse, who was in the house without the man’s knowledge.  Folse, who was armed with a gun and a knife, forced the man into a room where he was holding several others hostage.  During the hostage situation, Folse threatened to stab one hostage and struck another on the head with a glass object that shattered.  When the man did not open the door and without definitive information as to whether Folse was in the house, the officers retreated from the area immediately around the house.

Around 11:00 a.m., Folse left the house, and forced the man and another hostage to accompany him as they left the area in the man’s car.  APD officers responded to the scene as Folse aggressively drove away at a high rate of speed with the two hostages in the car.  While driving, Folse threw a gun out of the window.  Thereafter Folse lost control of the car and crashed as he tried to negotiate a curve at a high rate of speed in a residential neighborhood.  The car rolled and landed on its roof.  Folse fled from the car leaving the two hostages behind. 

Five minutes after the crash, Folse approached a car that was warming up in the driveway of a house.  There was no driver in the car, but a 13-year-old boy was in the passenger seat.  Folse threatened the boy telling him that he had three seconds to get out of the car.  The boy complied by jumping out of the car but was struck by the car door as Folse backed out of the driveway to make his escape.  Folse drove off aggressively and at a high rate of speed, and APD officers who were in pursuit had to end their pursuit of Folse so as not to endanger other motorists.  Folse was arrested in the late night hours of July 3, 2015, by officers of the Isleta Pueblo Tribal Police Department. 

This case was investigated by the ATF office in Albuquerque and APD with assistance from the Isleta Pueblo Tribal Police Department and the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel A. Hurtado and Paul Mysliwiec prosecuted the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Joclyn Telles, 35, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 60 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for her methamphetamine trafficking conviction. 

Telles and co-defendant Joshua Nestle, 26, also of Las Cruces, were arrested in Feb. 2017, and were charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.  The complaint also charged Nestle with being a felon in possession of a firearm and with using and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime.  According to the criminal complaint, the defendants committed the crimes on June 29, 2016, in Dona Ana County, N.M.  Law enforcement officers arrested Nestle and Telles on outstanding arrest warrants following a traffic stop.  During a search incident to the defendants’ arrests, the officers found approximately 2.6 ounces of methamphetamine and a firearm in the defendants’ vehicle.

Telles was indicted on June 21, 2017, and charged with conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  She entered a guilty plea to the indictment on July 18, 2017, without the benefit of a plea agreement. 

On June 7, 2017, Nestle pled guilty to a felony information charging him with conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and admitted conspiring on June 29, 2016, with others to violate the federal drug trafficking laws.  He also admitted possessing the 2.6 ounces of methamphetamine found in his vehicle and acknowledged that he intended to distribute the drugs to others.  Nestle also admitted that on March 9, 2017, he possessed a controlled substance while incarcerated at the Dona Ana County Detention Center.  Nestle was sentenced on Feb. 6, 2018, to 140 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release.           

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Saltman of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

ALBUQUERQUE – Gustavo Flores, 26, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced yesterday in federal court to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his conviction on a methamphetamine trafficking charge.

The FBI arrested Flores on July 10, 2017, on a criminal complaint charging him with committing drug trafficking and firearms offenses in Dona Ana County, N.M., on Jan. 28, 2017.   According to the complaint, Las Cruces Police Department (LCPD) officers arrested Flores after finding approximately five pounds of methamphetamine and a firearm in his vehicle while responding to a call regarding a suspicious vehicle driving around a neighborhood in Las Cruces.

On Sept. 26, 2017, Flores pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of more than 500 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  In entering the guilty plea, Flores admitted that on Jan. 28, 2017, LCPD officers found approximately 2.28 kilograms (5 pounds) of methamphetamine, a firearm and ammunition in his vehicle.  Flores further admitted that he intended to deliver the methamphetamine to others in exchange for money.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA and the LCPD.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin C. Segovia of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Roberto Esmerardo Lopez-Gaxiola, 35, a Mexican national, made his initial appearance this morning in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., on a heroin trafficking charge arising out of the seizure of more than nine pounds of heroin at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in southern New Mexico on March 14, 2018.  Lopez-Gaxiola remains in federal custody pending a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, which have yet to be scheduled.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Lopez-Gaxiola on March 14, 2018, after allegedly seizing approximately 4.2 kilograms (9.25 pounds) of heroin concealed in Lopez-Gaxiola’s vehicle.  According to the criminal complaint, the agents allegedly found the heroin in Lopez-Gaxiola’s vehicle during an inspection at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint located on Interstate 25 near Truth or Consequences, N.M., in Sierra County, N.M.

If convicted of the charges in the criminal complaint, Lopez-Gaxiola faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum of life in federal prison.  Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces Office of the DEA and the U.S. Border Patrol.  Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joni Autrey of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative.  The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico.  Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities.  Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico. 

The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components:  (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning.  HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners.  Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative.  Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.

ALBUQUERQUE – This morning, a U.S. Magistrate Judge sitting in Las Cruces, N.M., found probable cause to support a criminal complaint charging Edgardo Torres-Ruvalcaba, 32, a Mexican national, with a cocaine trafficking offense arising out of the seizure of more than 40 pounds of cocaine at the Santa Teresa, N.M., Port of Entry on March 10, 2018.  Torres-Ruvalcaba was remanded into custody pending trial, which has yet to be scheduled.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested Torres-Ruvalcaba on March 10, 2018, after seizing approximately 18.4 kilograms (40.4 pounds) of cocaine allegedly concealed in Torres-Ruvalcaba’s vehicle.  According to the criminal complaint, the agents found the cocaine while inspecting the vehicle at the Santa Teresa, N.M., Port of Entry.

If convicted of the charges in the criminal complaint, Torres-Ruvalcaba faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum of life in federal prison.  Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of Homeland Security Investigations.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Saltman of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Steven Vaillancourt, II, 45, of Las Cruces, N.M., made his initial appearance today in federal court on a criminal complaint charging him with distribution of child pornography.  Vaillancourt remains in federal custody pending a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing, which are scheduled for March 20, 2018.

The criminal complaint alleges that Vaillancourt distributed child pornography in March 2018, in Dona Ana County, N.M.  According to the criminal complaint, Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant on an email account, which revealed that Vaillancourt had been communicating with a person with two minor children.  Vaillancourt allegedly communicated with the individual about sharing and producing child pornography of the individual’s minor children.  The complaint further alleges that Vaillancourt sent the individual three images of child pornography through text message on a cellular phone.

The statutory penalty for a conviction on a distribution of child pornography charge is a mandatory minimum of five years and maximum of 20 years of imprisonment.  Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of Homeland Security Investigations and the Las Cruces Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Ong of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  Individuals with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse are encouraged to contact the Children’s Advocacy Center at (575) 526-3437, or to contact Homeland Security Investigations at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.

The case also was brought as a part of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force’s mission, which is to locate, track, and capture Internet child sexual predators and Internet child pornographers in New Mexico.  There are 86 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office.  Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.

ALBUQUERQUE – David Lawrence Krueger, 39, of Farmington, N.M., pled guilty yesterday in federal court to violating the federal firearms laws by unlawfully possessing firearms.  At sentencing, Krueger faces a maximum penalty of ten years of imprisonment unless the court determines that he is an armed career criminal.  In that event, Krueger will face an enhanced sentence of a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years of imprisonment and a maximum of life imprisonment.

 Krueger is being prosecuted as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets violent, repeat offenders for federal prosecution.  Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders primarily based on their prior criminal convictions for federal prosecution with the goal of removing them from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

Krueger was arrested on Sept. 28, 2017, on a two-count indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm on Jan. 25, 2017, in Sandoval County, N.M., and on Feb. 1, 2017, in San Juan County, N.M.  Krueger was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his prior felony convictions, which include convictions for armed robbery, aggravated robbery, domestic abuse, assault, and battery.

During yesterday’s change of plea hearing, Krueger pled guilty to the indictment. In entering the guilty plea, Krueger admitted selling four firearms to an undercover law enforcement agent on Jan. 25, 2017.  Krueger also admitted selling two firearms to an undercover law enforcement agent on Feb. 1, 2017.  Krueger acknowledged that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he was a convicted felon.  Krueger remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Letitia C. Simms is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Shawn Dale Torrez, 40, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.  Torrez entered the guilty plea under a plea agreement that recommends a sentence of 42 to 48 months of imprisonment followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service arrested Torrez on Dec. 8, 2017, on a four-count indictment charging him with two counts of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.  According to the indictment, Torrez committed the offenses from July 23, 2014 through April 16, 2015, in New Mexico, by stealing mail, which included personal identifying information of individuals, to create and use counterfeit drivers’ licenses and drivers’ licenses extensions to submit online applications for lines of credit and credit cards in the names of the individuals.

During today’s proceedings, Torrez pled guilty to the four-count indictment.  In entering the guilty plea, Torrez admitted that on Jan. 10, 2015, he opened a fraudulent line of credit through Wells Fargo bank in the amount of $23,000 at an Albuquerque-area jewelry store.  Torrez used the personal identifiers of a victim, without the victim’s permission, to open the account and to purchase a three-stone diamond ring and a wristwatch.  Torrez also admitted that on March 15, 2015, he used a fraudulent Sandia Labs Credit Union check with the victim’s name and address to make an $860.07 furniture purchase at an Albuquerque-area store.  Torrez acknowledged that he used the victim’s identity in order to commit fraud.

Torrez remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

ALBUQUERQUE – Brandon Carr, 28, of Pawleys Island, S.C., was sentenced this afternoon in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 120 months in prison for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.  Carr will be on supervised release for four years after completing his prison sentence.

Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) deputies arrested Carr in Aug. 2014, after finding approximately 5,808 grams of methamphetamine in Carr’s vehicle following a routine traffic stop.  The methamphetamine was concealed in four 1.5 liter bottles of liquid.  Carr subsequently was indicted on Sept. 9, 2014, and was charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on Aug. 13, 2014, in Bernalillo County, N.M.

On April 5, 2017, Carr pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  In entering the guilty plea, Carr admitted that on Aug. 13, 2014, BCSO deputies found four 1.5 liter bottles, which were labeled as apple juice but contained 5,808 grams of methamphetamine, in the trunk of his vehicle following a routine traffic stop.  Carr admitted that he obtained the methamphetamine in Los Angeles, Calif., and intended to deliver the methamphetamine to another person. 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and the BCSO and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James R.W. Braun.

ALBUQUERQUE – The Honorable John C. Anderson, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico, will testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs during an oversight hearing on “Opioids in Indian Country:  Beyond the Crisis to Healing in the Community,” at 2:30 p.m. (EDT)/12:30 p.m. (MDT), Wednesday, March 14, 2018.  U.S. Attorney Anderson will be part of a three-witness panel which will include Capt. Christopher Jones, Pharm. D., M.P.H., Director, National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and RADM Michael Toedt, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Indian Health Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.    

WHO:            

The Honorable John C. Anderson, U.S. Attorney, District of New Mexico, U.S. Department of Justice

Capt. Christopher Jones, Pharm. D., M.P.H., Director, National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

RADM Michael Toedt, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Indian Health Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

WHEN:         

Wednesday, March 14, 2018, 2:30 P.M. EDT/12:30 P.M. MDT

 WHERE:      

The hearing can be viewed in real time on the Committee’s webcast at https://www.indian.senate.gov/hearing/oversight-hearing-opioids-indian-country-beyond-crisis-healing-community

ALBUQUERQUE – Baret Wayne Smith, 28, of Lovington, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 51 months in prison for violating the federal firearms laws by being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.  Smith will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

Smith was charged in a federal criminal complaint filed in April 2016, with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition and body armor on Jan. 22, 2016, in Lea County, N.M.  According to the complaint, law enforcement officers arrested Smith, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, based on two outstanding warrants.  During a search incident to Smith’s arrest, the officers seized ammunition, methamphetamine, a glass pipe commonly used for smoking methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in Smith’s pockets.  The officers also seized a firearm from Smith’s vehicle.  Court documents indicate that months earlier, on Nov. 12, 2015, officers found multiple rounds of ammunition in Smith’s clothing after he was taken to a hospital in Hobbs, N.M., where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the stomach.

Smith subsequently was indicted on Nov. 8, 2017, and was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.  According to the indictment, Smith was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his numerous felony convictions.  Smith pled guilty to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement on Nov. 14, 2017.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the New Mexico State Police.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander B. Shapiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal grand jury has filed an indictment charging Kevin Vigil, 52, a non-Indian man from Espanola, N.M., with child sexual abuse offenses, announced U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge Terry Wade of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division, and Special Agent in Charge William McClure of District IV of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services.

The indictment charges Vigil with two counts of aggravated child sexual abuse.  The indictment alleges that Vigil sexually abused an Indian child under the age of twelve years on Feb. 4, 2018, on Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in Rio Arriba County, N.M.  Vigil is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., on March 21, 2018. 

Vigil has been in federal custody since Feb. 17, 2018, following his arrest on a criminal complaint.  If convicted of the aggravated sexual abuse charges, Vigil faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of 30 years and a maximum of life in federal prison.   Charges in criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

This case was investigated by the Santa Fe office of the FBI and the Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services with assistance from the Ohkay Owingeh Tribal Police Department and the New Mexico State Police.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback as part of the Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  Individuals with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse are encouraged to contact the Children’s Advocacy Center tipline at (575) 526-3437.

ALBUQUERQUE – David Torres-Arrellanes, 29, a Mexican national illegally residing in the United States, was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 30 months in prison for his conviction for using a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking crime and an illegal reentry charge.  Torres-Arrellanes will be deported after he completes his prison sentence

Torres-Arrellanes and seven other residents of Lea County, N.M., including four Mexican nationals, and a resident of Yuma, Ariz., were charged in a 20-count indictment filed in July 2017, with federal drug trafficking and money laundering offenses.  The indictment was the result of a multi-agency investigation into a significant drug trafficking organization allegedly led by Jose Raul Mendivil-Berrelleza, 34, a Mexican national who resided in Hobbs, that allegedly imported methamphetamine and cocaine into Lea County from Mexico through Arizona. 

The  investigation, which was led by the DEA and included HSI and the Lea County Drug Task Force of HIDTA Region 6, was designated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program, a Department of Justice program that combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations.  During the course of the investigation, law enforcement authorities seized approximately 13 kilograms (28.6 pounds) of pure methamphetamine and 1.45 kilograms (3.2 pounds) of cocaine, a firearm and $19,000 in cash.

The 20-count indictment charged alleged ringleader Mendivil-Berrelleza and seven co-defendants with conspiracy, methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking, and money laundering offenses.  Count 1 of the indictment charged all eight defendants with participating in a conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine and cocaine in Lea County and elsewhere between Nov. 2016 and July 2017.  Count 2 charged Mendivil-Berrelleza and Roberto Rendon-Duran, 70, of Yuma, Ariz., with participating in an international money-laundering conspiracy.  Counts 3 through 5 charged certain defendants with methamphetamine trafficking offenses and Count 6 charges certain defendants with a cocaine trafficking offense.  Counts 7 through 20 charged certain defendants including Torres-Arrellanes, with using communications devices to facilitate their drug trafficking activity.

On Oct. 25, 2017, Torres-Arrellanes pled guilty to an information charging him with reentry of a removed alien and using a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking crime.  In entering the guilty plea, Torres-Arrellanes admitted that on May 24, 2017, he had a telephone call with an individual who distributed methamphetamine, and told the individual that $10,000 in drug proceeds was ready to be picked up by a drug courier.  Torres-Arrellanes further admitted that on May 22, 2014, he was deported from the United States, and did not have permission to reenter when he was arrested by federal law enforcement agents on Aug. 2, 2017, in Ariz.

Four of Torrez-Arrellanes’ co-defendants previously have entered guilty pleas.   Jeremy W. Gough, 41, of Hobbs, pled guilty on Dec. 13, 2017, and was sentenced on Feb. 20, 2018, to 120 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.  Carlos Espinoza-Perez, 28, a Mexican national, pled guilty on Jan. 22, 2018; Reco Curry, 38, of Hobbs pled guilty on Nov. 27, 2017; and Rendon-Duran pled guilty on Oct. 31, 2017.

Two co-defendants have entered pleas of not guilty and are pending trial.  Miguel Angel Luna-Arredondo has yet to be arrested and is considered a fugitive.  Charges in indictments and criminal complaints are only accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the DEA and HSI offices in Las Cruces and the Lea County Drug Task Force with assistance from the Lea County Sheriff’s Office and the Hobbs Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Terri J. Abernathy and Dustin Segovia of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office are prosecuting the case.

The Lea County Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Lea County Sheriff’s Office, Hobbs Police Department, Lovington Police Department, Eunice Police Department the Tatum Police Department and the Jal Police Department, and is part of the NM HIDTA Region VI Drug Task Force.  The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.  HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.

ALBUQUERQUE – U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge John J. Durastanti of the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Brent Broshow announced today that Nathan Jensen, a 35-year-old armed career criminal from Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment for convictions in two federal cases, and violating the conditions of supervised release in a third case. 

Chief U.S. District Judge William P. Johnson sentenced Jensen to an aggregate of 20 years of imprisonment in the following three separate cases late on Friday afternoon (March 9, 2018), after Jensen entered a guilty plea to assaulting a federal officer: 

• In the first case, in which Jensen was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, Judge Johnson sentenced Jensen to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years of imprisonment.  This enhanced sentence was required by Jensen’s status as an armed career criminal and means that Jensen had at least three prior convictions for violent felonies and serious drug offenses when he committed the current offense of conviction. 
• In the second case, in which Jensen was convicted of assaulting a federal officer, Judge Johnson sentenced Jenson to 100 months of imprisonment, including 48 months to be served consecutive to the 15-year prison sentence and 52 months to be served concurrent.
• In the third case, in which Jensen admitted violating the conditions of his supervised release on a prior federal felon in possession of a firearm conviction, Judge Johnson sentenced Jensen to 24 months of imprisonment including 12 months consecutive to the 15-year prison sentence and 12 months to be served concurrent.
• Jensen will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Anderson said, “At the age of 35, Nathan Jensen has been involved in the criminal justice system for more than two decades and is a prime example of the violent, repeat offender who needs to be removed from our community.  Jensen reoffended less than three weeks after his release from a lengthy federal prison sentence and while still under federal supervision.  While awaiting sentencing for that crime, Jensen violently assaulted a federal officer.  This prosecution and the sentence will make our community safer.”

“This sentence ensures that Nathan Jensen, an armed career criminal, will spend many years behind bars for assaulting a federal officer,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Durastanti.  “Jensen is a serial offender who has been removed from the community, along with any danger that could result from his actions.  The brave men and women of law enforcement risk their lives every day to protect us, and ATF will continue to vigorously pursue anyone who attempts to do them harm.”

“The U.S. Marshals Service is dedicated to removing violent criminals from our communities,” said Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Broshow.  “We work with our local, state, and federal partners on a daily basis to accomplish our mission.  Putting career criminals like Jensen behind bars makes our community a safer place to live.”

ATF and the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Jensen in May 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm.  Jensen committed the offense while on supervised release from a prior federal felon in possession of a firearm conviction. 

The Court issued a warrant for Jensen’s arrest on May 4, 2016, based on a U.S. Probation Office petition, which stated that Jensen had been released from the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on April 25, 2016, after completing an 84-month prison sentence.  Jensen was to report to his probation officer and a halfway house at which he was to reside for up to six-months.  Jensen failed to report either to his probation officer or to the halfway house, and the U.S. Marshals Service’s Southwest Investigative Fugitive Team (USMS-SWIFT) arrested Jensen on the warrant on May 16, 2016.

Jensen subsequently was indicted on June 14, 2016, and was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.  On Feb. 27, 2017, Jensen pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that he unlawfully was in possession of a firearm and ammunition on May 16, 2016, when the USMS-SWIFT arrested him for violating the conditions of his supervised release. 

On Sept. 21, 2017, Jensen was charged in a second indictment with assaulting a federal employee. The indictment was superseded on Dec. 13, 2017, to add Waldo Nahle, 36, of Albuquerque, as a co-defendant.  According to the superseding indictment, Jensen and Nahle assaulted a federal employee who was engaged in the performance of his official duties in the Sandoval County Detention Center on May 11, 2017.

Before his sentencing hearing, Jensen pled guilty to the superseding indictment charging him with assaulting a federal employee.  In entering the guilty plea, Jensen admitted that on May 11, 2017, while detained at the Sandoval County Detention Center and awaiting sentencing on his firearms guilty plea, he assaulted a federal employee by repeatedly punching him in the face and head while other inmates restrained him.  Jensen acknowledged that the victim sustained serious injuries as the result of the assault.

Nahle has entered a plea of not guilty to the charge in the superseding indictment and is currently scheduled for trial in June 2018.  Charges in indictments are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law. 

The firearms case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of ATF and the USMS-SWIFT with assistance from the U.S. Probation Office, and the assault case was investigated by the USMS.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Eva M. Fontanez prosecuted Jensen under a federal anti-violence initiative that targets violent, repeat offenders for federal prosecution.  Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution primarily based on their prior criminal convictions with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

ALBUQUERQUE – Abraham Martinez, 36, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty this morning in federal court to theft of medical products charge arising out of the robbery of an Albuquerque-area pharmacy on Oct. 13, 2017. 

Martinez was arrested in Oct. 2017, on a criminal complaint charging him with violating the Hobbs Act by robbing a business engaged in interstate commerce and possession of Xanax with intent to distribute.  According to the criminal complaint, Martinez committed the offenses by robbing the Walgreens pharmacy located at 2625 San Pedro Dr. NE in Albuquerque, and threatening the pharmacist with a knife while demanding Xanax. 

Martinez subsequently was charged in a two-count indictment on Nov. 1, 2017, with violating the Hobbs Act by interfering with interstate commerce by robbery and violence, and theft of medical products.

During today’s proceedings, Martinez pled guilty to the theft of medical products charge.  In entering the guilty plea, Martinez admitted that on Oct. 13, 2017, he robbed the Walgreens pharmacy in Albuquerque by approaching the pharmacist’s consultation window, holding out a knife, and demanding Xanax from the pharmacist.  Martinez acknowledged that the bottles of Xanax he stole from the pharmacist were not available to the public and thus were considered pre-retail medical products.

At sentencing, Martinez faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.  Martinez remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. 

This case was investigated by the Tactical Diversion Squad of the DEA in Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Police Department.  DEA’s Tactical Diversion Squads combine DEA resources with those of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in an innovative effort to investigate, disrupt and dismantle those suspected of violating the Controlled Substances Act or other appropriate federal, state or local statutes pertaining to the diversion of licit pharmaceutical controlled substances or listed chemicals.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel R. Meyers is prosecuting the case as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative.  The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico.  Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities.  Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico. 

The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components:  (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning.  HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners.  Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative.  Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.

ALBUQUERQUE – Randy Payton, 35, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Churchrock, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 137 months in prison for his voluntary manslaughter conviction.  Payton will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

Payton was arrested on Oct. 19, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with killing a Navajo man on the Navajo Indian Reservation in McKinley County, N.M., on Oct. 14, 2016.  According to the criminal complaint, Payton killed the victim by hitting and kicking him repeatedly during a fight.  Payton subsequently was indicted on the same charge on Nov. 15, 2016.

On July 18, 2017, Payton pled guilty to the indictment and admitted killing the victim during a fight on Oct. 14, 2016. 

This case was investigated by the Gallup office of the FBI and the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Novaline Wilson.

ALBUQUERQUE – Mark William Elliot, 46, of Raton, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 51 months in prison for violating the federal firearms laws by unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition.  Elliot will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

Elliot was arrested in July 2016, on an indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on March 25, 2016, in Bernalillo County, N.M.  According to the indictment, Elliot was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of receiving or transferring stolen vehicles, tampering with evidence, forgery, and shooting at an occupied building.

According to court documents, on March 25, 2016, Albuquerque Police Department (APD) officers found Elliot asleep on the sidewalk next to his motorcycle, which was illegally parked in the road next to a stop sign.  After waking Elliot, the officers observed a bulge in Elliot’s right front pocket.  When the officers realized there was a firearm in Elliot’s pocket, the officers arrested Elliot as he attempted to flee.  APD officers recovered a loaded firearm and ammunition, approximately 18 grams of methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia from Elliot’s jacket during a search incident to his arrest. 

On Sept. 28, 2017, Elliot pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.  In entering the guilty plea, Elliot admitted possessing a loaded firearm in his right front pocket during an interaction with APD officers on March 25, 2016.  Elliot acknowledged that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition on March 25, 2016, because of his status as a convicted felon.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and APD and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rumaldo R. Armijo.

ALBUQUERQUE – In Aug. 2016, a multi-agency investigation led by the ATF concluded with the filing of 59 federal indictments and a federal criminal complaint charging 103 Bernalillo County residents with federal firearms and narcotics trafficking offenses.  To date, 85 of these defendants have been convicted, including 84 who have entered guilty pleas, and 65 of them have been sentenced.

The investigation was undertaken in support of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution.  Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies collaborate with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution primarily based on their prior criminal convictions with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

Today, Albuquerque resident Benjamin Marquez, 46, was sentenced in Santa Fe, N.M., federal court to 60 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.

Marquez and co-defendant Richard Lucero, 38, were arrested in Aug. 2016, on a five-count indictment alleging drug trafficking offenses.  Marquez was charged individually with distribution of heroin on May 5, 2016, and Marquez and Lucero were charged with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine from May 6, 2016 through June 1, 2016, and distribution of methamphetamine on May 6, 2016, May 18, 2016, and June 1, 2016.  On May 1, 2017, Marquez pled guilty to distributing methamphetamine, and admitted that on June 1, 2016, he sold approximately 60 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent.  Lucero pled guilty on Jan. 5, 2017, and was sentenced on Aug. 10, 2017, to 41 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Fifteen of the defendants charged as the result of the ATF investigation have entered not guilty pleas.  Charges in indictments are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.  The charges against two defendants have been dismissed.

These cases were investigated by the Albuquerque office of ATF.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eva Fontanez.

ALBUQUERQUE – This morning, a U.S. Magistrate Judge sitting in Las Cruces, N.M., found probable cause to support a criminal complaint charging Joshua Alexander Jimenez, 23, of El Paso, Texas, with a methamphetamine trafficking offense arising out of the seizure of 18 pounds of methamphetamine at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in southern New Mexico on Feb. 26, 2018.  Jimenez was remanded into custody pending trial, which has yet to be scheduled.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Jimenez on Feb. 26, 2018, after seizing approximately 8.25 kilograms (18.2 pounds) of methamphetamine allegedly concealed in Jimenez’s vehicle.  According to the criminal complaint, the agents found the methamphetamine while inspecting the vehicle at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 54 south of Alamogordo, N.M., in Otero County, N.M.

If convicted of the charges in the criminal complaint, Jimenez faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of ten years and a maximum of life in federal prison.  Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol and the Las Cruces office of the DEA.  Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joni Autrey is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Kyle Marshall Hogue, 29, of El Paso, Texas, was ordered detained pending trial after a U.S. Magistrate Judge sitting in Las Cruces, N.M., found probable cause to support a criminal complaint charging him with a cocaine trafficking offense.  The charge against Hogue arises out of the seizure of nearly eleven pounds of cocaine at a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in southern New Mexico on Feb. 27, 2018.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Hogue on Feb. 27, 2018, after allegedly seizing approximately 4.85 kilograms (10.7 pounds) of cocaine concealed in Hogue’s vehicle.  According to the criminal complaint, the agents allegedly found the cocaine in Hogue’s vehicle during an inspection at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint located on Interstate 25 in Dona Ana County, N.M.

If convicted of the charges in the criminal complaint, Hogue faces a statutory mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison.  Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol and the Las Cruces office of the DEA.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander B. Shapiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Gonzalo Montenegro-Coronel, 27, a Mexican national, was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 84 months in prison for his conviction on heroin trafficking charges.  Montenegro-Coronel will be deported after completing his prison sentence.

Montenegro-Coronel and his four co-defendants, Esther Ordonez, 48, Miguel Ordonez, 24, and Reydecel Lopez-Ordonez, 24, all of Albuquerque, and Fernando Gomez-Campos, 22, of El Paso, Texas, were charged in a 13-count indictment that was filed on Dec. 2, 2015.  The indictment charged the defendants with participating in a heroin trafficking conspiracy between Nov. 2014 and Sept. 2015, with distributing heroin on eight occasions between Nov. 2014 and Sept. 2015, and with using telephones to facilitate drug trafficking crimes.  It also charged Esther Ordonez, Miguel Ordonez and Montenegro-Coronel with maintaining a residence for the purpose of manufacturing and distributing heroin between Nov. 2014 and Sept. 2015.  According to the indictment, the defendants committed the crimes in Bernalillo County, N.M.

On Nov. 8, 2017, Montenegro-Coronel pled guilty to distributing heroin, three counts of using a communication device in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and maintaining a drug-involved premises.  In entering the guilty plea, Montenegro-Coronel admitted that from Nov. 10, 2014 through Sept. 23, 2015, he participated in a heroin trafficking conspiracy by ordering bulk quantities of heroin from Mexico, which was then prepared and distributed to buyers in the Albuquerque area by his co-defendants.  Specifically, Montenegro-Coronel admitted that on March 19, 2015 and March 27, 2015, he supplied quantities of heroin to his co-defendants for distribution to buyers.  Montenegro-Coronel further admitted that on April 28, 2015 and May 18, 2015, he ordered and obtained bulk shipments of heroin from Mexico.  Montenegro-Coronel admitted that throughout the conspiracy, he stored, cut and packaged heroin at a residence in Albuquerque.

All of Montenegro-Coronel’s co-defendants have entered guilty pleas and three have been sentenced.  Lopez-Ordonez pled guilty on Oct. 19, 2016, and was sentenced to 60 months of imprisonment followed by four years of supervised release on March 30, 2017.  Miguel Ordonez pled guilty on April 24, 2017, and was sentenced on Aug. 15, 2017, to 70 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release.  Gomez-Campos pled guilty on March 10, 2017, and was sentenced on Nov. 2, 2017, to 18 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.  Esther Ordonez pled guilty on April 12, 2017, and has yet to be sentenced. 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and the HIDTA Region I Drug Task Force as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program, which combines the resources and unique expertise of federal agencies, along with their local counterparts, in a coordinated effort to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations.  The HIDTA Region I Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Albuquerque Police Department, Rio Rancho Police Department, Valencia County Sheriff’s Office, Pueblo of Pojoaque Tribal Police Department and DEA.  The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.  HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shaheen P. Torgoley, Stephen R. Kotz and Peter Eicker are prosecuting this case as part of the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative.  The HOPE Initiative was launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the national opioid epidemic, which has had a disproportionately devastating impact on New Mexico.  Opioid addiction has taken a toll on public safety, public health and the economic viability of our communities.  Working in partnership with the DEA, the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, Healing Addiction in our Community (HAC), the Albuquerque Public Schools and other community stakeholders, HOPE’s principal goals are to protect our communities from the dangers associated with heroin and opioid painkillers and reducing the number of opioid-related deaths in New Mexico. 

The HOPE Initiative is comprised of five components:  (1) prevention and education; (2) treatment; (3) law enforcement; (4) reentry; and (5) strategic planning.  HOPE’s law enforcement component is led by the Organized Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the DEA in conjunction with their federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners.  Targeting members of major heroin and opioid trafficking organizations for investigation and prosecution is a priority of the HOPE Initiative.  Learn more about the New Mexico HOPE Initiative at http://www.HopeInitiativeNM.org.

ALBUQUERQUE – Brian Dyea, 29, an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo who resides in Mesita, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to an arson charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Dyea was arrested in Dec. 2017, on an indictment charging with him arson.  According to the indictment, Dyea committed the crime by setting fire to and burning a building on the Laguna Pueblo in Cibola County, N.M., on June 17, 2016.

During today’s proceedings, Dyea pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on June 17, 2016, he set fire to his father’s trailer located on the Laguna Pueblo, which caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to the trailer.   Dyea further admitted that he set the fire while his father was still inside the trailer, and his father suffered minor smoke inhalation.      

At sentencing, Dyea faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.  Dyea remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled. 

This case was investigated by the Laguna/Acoma Agency of the BIA Office of Justice Services and the Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisa Dimas.

ALBUQUERQUE – Leon Conaway, 56, of Carlsbad, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to charges arising out of the sale and offering for sale of drug paraphernalia.  Conaway’s plea agreement recommends a sentence of three years of probation.

Conaway, the owner and operator of Twisted Roots, a smoke shop in Carlsbad, was arrested in Jan. 2018, on a two-count indictment charging him with selling and offering for sale drug paraphernalia on May 16, 2016 and July 12, 2016, in Eddy County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, Conaway pled guilty to the charges in the indictment.  In entering his guilty plea, Conaway admitted that on May 16, 2016, he sold three glass pipes that are designed for smoking methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement agent.  Conaway also admitted that on May 16, 2016 and June 12, 2016, he had a large quantity of drug paraphernalia displayed for sale at his business, Twisted Roots. 

In his plea agreement, Conaway also admitted that on July 12, 2016, federal law enforcement agents seized the following items that Conaway displayed for sale at Twisted Roots: approximately 1,127 assorted smoking instruments, including bongs, glass pipes used for smoking marijuana and glass pipes used for smoking methamphetamine; 17 assorted marijuana grinders; seven roach clips; 22 scales; and a large quantity of jewel bags that are used in the distribution of controlled substances.  Conaway admitted that he knew the merchandise he sold and offered for sale at Twisted Roots was likely to be used with illegal drugs. 

A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA and the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brock Taylor of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

The Pecos Valley Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office, Carlsbad Police Department and Artesia Police Department and is part of the HIDTA Region VI Drug Task Force.  The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.  HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.

ALBUQUERQUE – Charterious Laquess Moore, 25, of Westpoint, Miss., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 36 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.

The DEA arrested Moore in Jan. 2017, after seizing approximately 464.4 grams (1.02 pounds) of methamphetamine from him during an interdiction investigation in Albuquerque. 

Moore subsequently was indicted on Feb. 7, 2017, and was charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on Jan. 11, 2017, in Bernalillo County, N.M.

On Sept. 19, 2017, Moore pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  In entering the guilty plea, Moore admitted that on Jan. 11, 2017, he transported methamphetamine to Albuquerque on a bus from Victorville, Calif., with the intention of delivering the methamphetamine to another individual in Tupelo, Miss.  Moore admitted that the methamphetamine was concealed in a heat-sealed bundle inside a pillow.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rumaldo R. Armijo.

ALBUQUERQUE – U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge Terry Wade of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division and Chief James Gimler of the Hatch Police Department announced that Jesse Denver Hanes, who shot and killed Hatch Police Officer Jose Chavez on Aug. 12, 2016, was sentenced today to a lifetime of imprisonment for his conviction on federal firearms and carjacking charges arising out of his efforts to evade arrest following the shooting.  Hanes was also ordered to pay a total of $38,553.02 in restitution to the victims of his crimes.  Hanes, 40, of Columbus, Ohio, was sentenced this morning on his federal conviction by U.S. District Judge Robert C. Brack in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M.

Third Judicial District Attorney Mark D’Antonio, Chief Pete N. Kassetas of the New Mexico State Police, and Doña Ana County Sheriff Enrique Vigil joined U.S. Attorney Anderson, FBI Special Agent in Charge Wade and Hatch Police Chief Gimler in announcing the sentence.

“Today, the law enforcement community made good on its pledge to hold Jesse Denver Hanes fully accountable for his day-long violent crime spree that included the murder of Hatch Police Officer Jose Chavez and the carjacking of three victims, and broke the hearts of Officer Chavez’s family, the Hatch Police Department and the Village of Hatch,” said U.S. Attorney Anderson.  “The U.S. Attorney’s Office has made a commitment to the courageous officers who put their lives on the line to protect us and safeguard our communities – violence at any level against officers will not be tolerated.  We will pursue federal charges against those who seek to harm officers whenever we have jurisdiction and the evidence to do so.”

“We hope today’s sentencing gives Officer Jose Chavez’s loved ones some measure of justice,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Wade.  “His memory will inspire all of us in law enforcement to continue to do our jobs the way he did his, with dedication and perseverance.”

“I am grateful to all of the law enforcement officers, the prosecutors, and the community who worked so hard to bring Mr. Haynes to justice in this case.  The loss of Officer Chavez was a tragedy, but I am inspired by the way that our community came together to support him and his family,” said Chief Gimler of the Hatch Police Department.  “Knowing that Mr. Hanes will spend the rest of his life in prison cannot bring Officer Chavez back, but I hope that his family will find some solace in knowing that his killer will never again walk the streets a free man and that he will never again be able to take an innocent person’s life.”

Hanes was sentenced as the result of the guilty plea he entered on May 30, 2017, to a  five-count superseding indictment charging him with attempted carjacking; brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence; carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury; discharging a firearm during a crime of violence; and being a felon in possession of a firearm.  Hanes admitted committing the five offenses on Aug. 12, 2016, in Doña Ana County, N.M.  At the time, Hanes was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his status as a convicted felon.

Hanes was arrested on federal charges on Aug. 16, 2016.  According to court filings, on Aug. 12, 2016, Officer Chavez executed a traffic stop in Hatch, N.M., on a vehicle driven by Hanes and in which two other men were passengers.  During the traffic stop, Hanes shot Officer Chavez in the upper torso, and Officer Chavez later died as the result of the gunshot wound.  After fleeing from the scene of the shooting, Hanes and his passengers parted company and Hanes traveled to a rest area near Radium Springs, N.M., where he attempted to carjack two individuals by brandishing a firearm at them.  Shortly thereafter, Hanes carjacked a man at the same rest area by shooting him in the leg and drove away in the injured man’s vehicle.  When deputies of the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office arrested Hanes later that day, they found the handgun Hanes used to shot Officer Chavez and the carjack victim.

Hanes was charged with and pled guilty to the first-degree murder of Officer Chavez and related crimes in the Third Judicial District Court for the State of New Mexico in Doña Ana County.  Hanes was sentenced to a term of life in prison without parole in the state murder case in Sept. 2017.  Under the terms of plea agreement entered into by Hanes and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Hanes’ federal sentence of life imprisonment will run concurrent with his life sentence in the New Mexico state murder case.

“This case is a shining example of how law enforcement agencies can work together to protect the safety of the public,” said Doña Ana County District Attorney D’Antonio. “Not only was Mr. Hanes sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on his state charges, he will now serve the same sentence for his federal offenses.  I am grateful to our federal counterparts in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their diligent work and cooperation on this case.”

“The law enforcement community has felt the deep loss of one of our own in the death of Officer Jose Chavez,” said New Mexico State Police Chief Kassetas.  “However, the New Mexico State Police has worked diligently with our partners to bring justice in this case.  We are determined to honor the life of Officer Jose Chavez, and his service will never be forgotten.”

“Our department is pleased with the proceedings of today’s sentence,” said Dona Ana County Sheriff Vigil.  “Over the past 18 months, a family and a community have grieved the loss of a good man and a good police officer.  The impact of Mr. Hanes’s heinous actions will be felt forever, but today we move on.”

Hanes is still facing an unrelated state murder charge in Ohio, on which he has yet to be arraigned.  Criminal charges are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The federal case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI, Hatch Police Department, Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police, with assistance from the 3rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.  The following law enforcement agencies assisted in the investigation:  the Albuquerque and El Paso offices of the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Border Patrol, Las Cruces Police Department, the HIDTA Regional Interagency Drug Task Force/Metro Narcotics Task Force, El Paso (Texas) County Sheriff’s Office and El Paso (Texas) Police Department.  

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marisa A. Ong and Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the federal case against Hanes as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution.  Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders primarily based on their felony conviction records for federal prosecution with the goal of removing violent, repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

ALBUQUERQUE – Hector Lau, 21, of Miami, Fla., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to conspiracy and bank fraud charges arising out of a scheme to steal mail from U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail collection boxes at U.S. Post Offices in the Albuquerque area in July and Aug. 2017.

U.S. Postal Inspectors arrested Lau and co-defendants Jorge R. Cabrera, 20, Yarelys Marquez, 19, and Fernando Cairo-Rosell, 29, all of Albuquerque, on Aug. 30, 2017, based on criminal complaints charging them with theft of mail and bank fraud charges.  The criminal complaints alleged that in July and Aug. 2017, mail collection boxes at USPS stations in Albuquerque repeatedly were broken into and mail was stolen.  The U.S. Postal Inspection Service initiated an investigation into the scheme after receiving complaints that checks deposited in the mail collection boxes had been stolen, altered and deposited into accounts held by the defendants.      

The four defendants subsequently were charged with conspiracy and nine counts of bank fraud in a ten-count indictment, which was filed on Sept. 21, 2017.  According to the indictment, the four defendants participated in a conspiracy to commit bank fraud that began in July 2017 and continued until Aug. 2017, and operated in Bernalillo County, N.M.  The indictment also charges the four defendants with committing bank fraud against four credit unions that maintain branches in Albuquerque.  The indictment charged the defendants with conspiracy to commit bank fraud by stealing checks that had been deposited in U.S. mail depositories, altering the checks, and attempting to pass the checks off as legitimate to banking institutions.  It alleged that as part of their bank fraud scheme, the defendants deposited checks, which had been altered to make them payable to members of their conspiracy and in amounts ranging from $500 to $4,754, into bank accounts held by members of the conspiracy. 

During today’s proceedings, Lau pled guilty to conspiracy and five counts of bank fraud under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  In entering the guilty plea, Lau admitted that from July 10, 2017 through Aug. 9, 2017, he conspired with others to deposit altered checks, which he knew had been stolen from mailboxes throughout Albuquerque, into checking accounts held by Lau and a co-defendant.  Lau further admitted that on July 14, 2017, July 16, 2017, and July 24, 2017, his co-defendants deposited stolen checks with terms re-written into Lau’s checking account without the owner’s permission.  Lau also admitted that on July 28, 2017, he deposed a stolen check into a co-defendant’s checking account without the owner’s permission.   According to the plea agreement, the stolen checks deposited into Lau’s account totaled $6,932.04.

Lau’s three co-defendants previously have entered guilty pleas.  Cairo-Rosell pled guilty on Dec. 4, 2017, and was sentenced on Feb. 21, 2018.  Cabrera pled guilty on Feb. 15, 2018, and Marquez pled guilty on Jan. 10, 2018.   

At sentencing, Lau, Cabrera, and Marquez each face a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison.  Sentencing hearings have yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shaheen P. Torgoley.