District of New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE – Howard Ortiz, 33, was sentenced today to 30 months in federal prison for failing to comply with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Ortiz, a member and resident of Laguna Pueblo, will be on supervised release for five years after completing his prison sentence.  He will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

SORNA, 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.

Ortiz was arrested in Dec. 2012, on a criminal complaint charging him with violating SORNA.  On Dec. 19, 2012, he was indicted and charged with failing to update his sex offender registration between Aug. 28, 2012 and Nov. 25, 2012.  Ortiz pleaded guilty to the indictment on June 19, 2014, and admitted that he failed to maintain his registration as required by SORNA.

Ortiz is required to register as a sex offender because he was convicted of an aggravated sexual abuse offense in Feb. 2001, and was sentenced to 78 months in prison.  Based on that conviction, Ortiz is required to update his sex offender registration every 90 days for the rest of his life.  In Sept. 2010, Ortiz was convicted of failing to comply with SORNA and sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment. 

This case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.

ALBUQUERQUE – Emanuel Medina, 24, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 46 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release for unlawfully possessing stolen firearms.

Medina and co-defendant Pete Richard Ferraro, 23, of Chaparral, N.M., were arrested on Oct. 25, 2013, on a criminal complaint alleging that he unlawfully possessed firearms between Oct. 11, 2013 and Oct. 23, 2013, in Doña Ana County, N.M.  According to the complaint, on Oct. 22, 2013, an officer of the El Paso Police Department reported that a rifle and a shotgun were missing from his unmarked police vehicle.  The results of a latent prints examination revealed that Ferraro left his fingerprints on the police vehicle.  During the course of the investigation, Medina was interviewed and implicated himself in the theft of the firearms.  The firearms were recovered in two Chaparral residences.

On May 27, 2014, Medina pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of stolen firearms.  In his plea agreement, Medina admitted that Ferraro and he broke into the officer’s vehicle, stole the firearms and transported the firearms from Texas to New Mexico.

Ferraro entered a guilty plea to possession of stolen firearms on July 23, 2014.  Ferraro has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled.  At sentencing, he faces a maximum statutory penalty of ten years in prison.
           
This case was brought 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 for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

This case was investigated by the El Paso Group III Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the El Paso Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Castellano of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

ALBUQUERQUE – James Eddy, 44, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Church Rock, N.M., was sentenced today to 36 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for his federal assault conviction. 

Eddy was arrested on Jan. 7, 2014, on a criminal complaint alleging that he assaulted a 25-year-old Navajo man on the Navajo Indian Reservation in McKinley County, N.M., on Dec. 10, 2013.  Eddy subsequently was indicted and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. 

On May 1, 2014, Eddy entered a guilty plea to both counts of the indictment and admitted assaulting the victim with a knife with the intention of inflicting serious bodily injury.  Court filings reflect that, on Dec. 10, 2013, Eddy stabbed the victim in the chest with a 17-inch knife, causing the victim to sustain a life-threatening injury.   

The case was investigated by the Crownpoint office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine Y. Ramirez.

ALBUQUERQUE – William Edward Jenne, 24, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon in Las Cruces federal court to 37 months in federal prison followed by ten years of supervised release for his child pornography conviction.  Jenne will be required to register as a sex offender after completing his prison sentence.

Jenne was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents on Dec. 4, 2012, on a criminal complaint alleging federal child pornography charges.  According to court filings, the investigation leading to Jenne’s arrest was initiated in mid-Nov. 2012, when an officer of the Las Cruces Police Department (LCPD) who was working online in an undercover capacity connected with an IP Address that was sharing files that appeared to contain child pornography.  After determining that the IP Address was subscribed to Jenne, HSI and LCPD executed a search warrant at Jenne’s residence and seized computers and computer-related media.  During an interview, Jenne admitted that the computers and computer-related media contained child pornography.

On July 24, 2013, Jenne entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him with possession of child pornography in Doña Ana County, N.M.  Jenne admitted that from Aug. 2012 to Dec. 2012, he knowingly possessed child pornography.  During today’s sentencing hearing, Jenne was ordered to pay $1000.00 in restitution to the victim whose image was involved in the child pornography possessed by Jenne.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of HSI and the LCPD and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Lizarraga of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.  The case was brought 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/.

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 74 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the 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 – Javin Keith Reano, 22, a member and resident of Kewa Pueblo, pleaded guilty this morning to a federal aggravated sexual abuse charge.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Reano will be sentenced to 84 months in federal prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  Reano will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

Reano was arrested in May 2014, on an indictment charging him with aggravated sexual abuse.  According to court filings, on July 19, 2013, Reano sexually assaulted the victim, an Indian woman, in a location within Kewa Pueblo in Sandoval County, N.M.

Today, Reano entered a guilty plea to the indictment and admitted raping the victim on July 19, 2013.  In his plea agreement, Reano acknowledged forcing the victim to engage in a sexual act victim against her will.

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

  This case was investigated by the Southern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback. 

The case was brought pursuant to the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.

ALBUQUERQUE – John Jaramillo, 45, of Albuquerque, N.M., entered a guilty plea this morning to federal child pornography charges.  The guilty plea was entered without the benefit of a plea agreement.

Jaramillo was arrested on April 24, 2014 by special agents of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on a criminal complaint charging him with receiving and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  At the time of his arrest, Jaramillo was a registered nurse employed by two home healthcare providers that provides mental health and medical care for children and adolescents.

On May 21, 2014, Jaramillo was indicted and charged with one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.  The indictment alleged that Jaramillo received and possessed child pornography from June 2013 to March 2014 in Bernalillo County, N.M.  During today’s proceedings, Jaramillo pled guilty to both counts of the indictment.

According to court filings, the investigation leading to Jaramillo’s arrest began in Nov. 2013, when an agent with the New Mexico State Police identified an IP address that was being used to share child pornography while conducting an investigation targeting those who share child pornography on peer-to-peer file sharing networks.  Subsequent investigation revealed that the IP address was subscribed to Jaramillo’s residence in west side of Albuquerque.

On April 24, 2014, HSI, the New Mexico State Police, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, and the Albuquerque Police Department, all agencies that participate in the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, executed a federal search warrant at the residence and seized Jaramillo’s computer and computer-related media.  A forensic examination of Jaramillo’s computer recovered images and videos consistent with child pornography.      

Jaramillo has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  At sentencing, Jaramillo faces a federal prison term of not less than five years and not more than 20 years.  Jaramillo also will be required to register as a sex offender. 

This case was investigated by the Sexual Predator Exploitation and Enforcement Detail (SPEED) of HSI in Albuquerque, the New Mexico State Police, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and the Albuquerque Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob A. Wishard 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/.

The Operation 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 74 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the 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 – Sam Elyicio, Jr., 38, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced this morning to 125 months in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release for participating in a cocaine base trafficking conspiracy.  Eylicio previously had entered a guilty plea to a drug trafficking conspiracy count on June 23, 2014.  

Elyicio was one of five men who were indicted in April 2013, on federal narcotics and firearms charges as the result of “Operation Rio Grande Stucco,” a DEA led investigation into an organization that allegedly manufactured and distributed cocaine base, more commonly known as “crack” or “crack cocaine,” in Bernalillo and Santa Fe Counties, N.M.

The five-count indictment charged Elyicio, Robert Romero, 26, and Michael Jaramillo, 24, both of Santa Fe, and Albuquerque residents, Gabriel Mirabal, 33, and Dominic Anaya, 33, with conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine in Bernalillo and Santa Fe Counties between May 2012 and April 2013.  The indictment also charged three of the defendants with the following substantive crimes:  Romero also was charged with possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute in Santa Fe in July 2012, and with using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; Jaramillo also was charged with distributing crack cocaine in Santa Fe in March 2012; and Mirabal also was charged with possessing cocaine with intent to distribute in Albuquerque in Feb. 2013.

Jaramillo entered a guilty plea on March 21, 2014, to the conspiracy count and admitted purchasing crack cocaine from two of his co-defendants and then reselling it to others.  On July 30, 2014, Jaramillo was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release.

Romero entered a guilty plea on May 13, 2014, to two drug trafficking charges and a firearms charge.  He was sentenced on Aug. 13, 2014 to120 months in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release. 

Anaya entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine on Aug. 5, 2014, and faces a prison term of not less than five years and not more than 40 years when he is sentenced.  Anaya remains in custody pending his sentencing hearing which is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2014.

Mirabal has entered a not guilty plea to the indictment.  If convicted, Mirabal faces a maximum penalty of not less than five years or more than 40 years in prison.  He remains in custody pending trial.  An indictment is merely an accusation, and criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and the HIDTA Region III Drug Task Force, with assistance from the 1st Judicial District Attorney’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. 

The Region III Drug Task Force is comprised of officers from the New Mexico State Police, Santa Fe Police Department and the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office and receives support from the HIDTA – High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area – program.  HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy that 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. 

The investigation leading to the indictment, has been designated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) program, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative 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.

ALBUQUERQUE – Alejandro Carrillo, 37, of El Paso, Texas, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to a methamphetamine trafficking charge.

Carrillo was arrested on a criminal complaint on April 23, 2014, after a New Mexico State Police officer executed a traffic stop on his tractor trailer for a motor vehicle infraction.  A consensual search of the trailer by the New Mexico State Police and U.S. Border Patrol, who were summoned to assist, revealed that Carrillo was transporting approximately nine pounds of methamphetamine that were concealed in the cab.  In July of 2014, Carrillo was indicted and charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

Today Carrillo entered a guilty plea to the indictment and admitted that on April 23, 2014, he unlawfully possessed 4.28 kilograms of methamphetamine with the intention of transporting it from El Paso to Denver, Colo.  In his plea agreement, Carrillo admitted that he was to be paid $4000.00 if he was successful in making the delivery.

Carrillo was remanded into federal custody after entering his guilty plea.  He will be detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  At sentencing, Carrillo faces a prison sentence of not less than ten years in prison.

This case was investigated by the El Paso office of HSI, the U.S. Border Patrol and the New Mexico State Police, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Garreth Winstead, III of the Las Cruces Branch Office.

ALBUQUERQUE – Gilbert Yazzie, 45, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, N.M., was sentenced this morning to eight years in federal prison followed by 15 years of supervised release for his aggravated child sexual abuse conviction.  Yazzie will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

Yazzie was arrested in June 2013, on a criminal complaint alleging that he engaged in a sexual act with a Navajo child under the age of 12 years.  According to court filings, Yazzie sexually abused the child victim on June 15, 2013, in a residence in Shiprock, which is within the Navajo Indian Reservation.  On June 19, 2014, Yazzie pled guilty to a felony information charging him with sexually abusing a child and admitted that on June 15, 2013, he engaged in a sexual act with the child victim.

This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Novaline D. Wilson and Glynette R. Carson McNabb.

The case was brought 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 – Maraintoinette Lynn Yazzie, 26, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Lukachukai, Ariz., pleaded guilty this morning to an assault with a dangerous weapon charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Yazzie, 26, and her brother Antonio Yazzie, 22, also of Lukachukai, Ariz., were arrested in April 2014, on a criminal complaint alleging that they attacked a Navajo man at his home in Tohlakai, N.M., on Feb. 26, 2014.  The two subsequently were indicted in May 2014, and charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of robbery.  According to court filings, Yazzie and her brother assaulted the victim by restraining him and striking him repeatedly in the face and head with a rock and a coffee mug.  The two then allegedly robbed the victim of cash and his truck.

During today’s plea hearing, Yazzie pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment, charging her with assault with a dangerous weapon.  Yazzie admitted that she and her brother struck the victim in the head and the face with a rock and a coffee mug with the intent to do bodily harm. 

Antonio Yazzie previously entered a guilty plea to Count 1 of the indictment on Sept. 9, 2014.  Both siblings have been in federal custody since their arrests and remain detained pending their sentencing hearings, which have yet to be scheduled.  At sentencing, each faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in prison.

This case was investigated by the Crownpoint office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul H. Spiers.

ALBUQUERQUE – Charlene Baca, 43, of Albuquerque, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning to a felony information charging her with theft from an Indian gaming establishment.

Baca was arrested on Oct. 5, 2013, on a criminal complaint charging her with threatening a cashier and attempting to rob the Route 66 Casino located on Laguna Pueblo in Cibola County, N.M.  According to the complaint, Baca told the cashier that she had a bomb in the casino and demanded money. 

During today’s proceedings, Baca entered a guilty plea to a felony information and admitted that she attempted to steal money belonging to the Route 66 Casino on Oct. 5, 2013, by suggesting to the to the cashier that there was a destructive device in the Casino that would explode in seconds.  Baca admitted suggesting to the cashier that she could remotely deploy the bomb if the cashier did not give her money.  Baca was arrested by officers of the Pueblo of Laguna Trial Police Department shortly thereafter.
 
Baca remains on conditions of release at a half-way house pending her sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  Under the terms of her plea agreement, Baca will be sentenced to time served followed by three years of supervised release.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI with assistance from the Pueblo of Laguna Pueblo Tribal Police Department, the Laguna Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Programs, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the New Mexico State Police and the Albuquerque Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Niki Tapia-Brito is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal jury sitting in Las Cruces, N.M., returned a verdict earlier today finding Eric Leo Alexander, 36, of Anaheim, Calif., guilty of violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) after a two-day trial.  The guilty verdict was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez and U.S. Marshal Conrad E. Candelaria.

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.

“The Marshals Service for the District of New Mexico is dedicated to the safety of all communities within New Mexico, which is evident in this recent arrest of a dangerous and violent fugitive,” said U.S. Marshal Conrad E. Candelaria.  “Regardless of the time, day or circumstance, when investigative leads are referred to Deputy United States Marshals, the information will be reviewed, validated, with the goal of apprehending dangerous fugitives.  On many occasions, fugitive investigations, arrests, and prosecutions, are successful because of our partners from local, county, state and tribal police agencies, which together with the United States Attorney’s Office, we are making safer communities for our children, families and friends.”

Alexander was arrested in Anaheim, Calif., on Jan. 10, 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with violating SORNA by failing to register as a sex offender after traveling in interstate commerce, and subsequently transferred to New Mexico to face the charges in this case.  According to the indictment, which was filed on May 14, 2014, Alexander violated SORNA by failing to register as a sex offender in Doña Ana County, N.M., between Sept. 1, 2013 and Sept. 23, 2013.

Trial against Alexander began yesterday.  The evidence established that the U.S. Marshals Service initiated an investigation into Alexander in late Sept. 2013, after California authorities requested their assistance in locating and apprehending Alexander.  The California authorities reported that Alexander, a fugitive who had violated the conditions of his probation, was believed to be residing in Las Cruces.

Through investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service learned that Alexander’s criminal history included a 2012 conviction for sexually assaulting a minor for which he was sentenced to four years in a California state prison.  After he was convicted, Alexander was twice informed of his requirements to register as a sex offender.  Alexander also signed forms acknowledging that he was required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and update his registration annually.  Although Alexander registered as a sex offender in California after he was released from prison in Aug. 2013, he then traveled to Las Cruces without informing the California authorities of his intention to leave. 

The U.S. Marshals Service’s investigation revealed that as of Sept. 23, 2013, Alexander had been living at a Las Cruces residence with a woman and her two children for three weeks.  It also revealed that Alexander had not registered with the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department within three days of moving to New Mexico as required by SORNA.

The jury deliberated approximately 20 minutes before returning a verdict of guilty on the sole count of the indictment.

Alexander has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  At sentencing, Alexander faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez praised the efforts of the U.S. Marshals Service in the investigation.  He also thanked the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department, Tustin (Calif.) Police Department and Santa Ana (Calif.) Police Department for their assistance in the investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S Attorneys Amanda Gould and Luis A. Martinez of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

ALBUQUERQUE – Ronald Lewis Chavez, 46, of Albuquerque, N.M., pleaded guilty today to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime charge. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Chavez will be sentenced to 12 years in federal prison followed by a term of not more than five years of supervised release.

Chavez was arrested on Jan. 27, 2014, based on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  Chavez subsequently was indicted in Feb. 2014, charging him with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

According to court filings, law enforcement officers seized a handgun located underneath the mattress of Chavez’ bed and ammunition that was concealed in two black boxes next to the bed when they executed a search warrant at his residence in southwest Albuquerque on Jan. 24, 2014.  Officers also seized plastic bags containing methamphetamine from a fanny pack buckled around Chavez’ torso.  

Today Chavez pled guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  Chavez has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis E. Valencia.

ALBUQUERQUE – Bobby Concho, 53, was sentenced this morning to 40 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release for his conviction on assault and domestic assault by a habitual offender charges.  The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez and Chief Timothy Trimble of the Zuni Pueblo Tribal Police Department. 

Concho, a member and resident of Zuni Pueblo, N.M., was arrested on Feb. 25, 2014, on a two-count indictment charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon and domestic assault by a habitual offender.  The indictment alleged that Concho assaulted his intimate partner with a metal folding chair on June 23, 2013, in Indian Country in McKinley County, N.M.  Concho was charged as a habitual offender because he previously had been convicted on domestic assault charges in the Zuni Tribal Court in 2006 and in the McKinley County Magistrate Court in 2004.

On May 2, 2014, Concho entered a guilty plea to both counts of the indictment.  In entering his guilty plea, Concho admitted assaulting his intimate partner on June 23, 2013, by striking her in the face multiple times with a closed fist and hitting her with a metal folding chair with the intention of causing bodily harm.   Concho acknowledged committing the assault within Zuni Pueblo.

This case was investigated by the Zuni Pueblo Tribal Police Department and was prosecuted by Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David Adams.  The case was brought pursuant to the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.

ALBUQUERQUE – Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tara C. Neda and Timothy S. Vasquez and Director of Administration Ruth M. Cox of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of New Mexico were among the 244 members of the Department of Justice recognized by Attorney General Eric Holder and Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) Director Monty Wilkinson at the 30th annual Director’s Awards Ceremony today in Washington D.C.

The District of New Mexico was one of 44 districts represented at the ceremony which was held in the Great Hall at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building.

In his prepared remarks to awardees, Attorney General Holder said, “Locally, nationally, and internationally, you represent the very best that this Department has to offer.  Your work embodies our ongoing commitment – not merely to win cases, but to do justice; to protect our fellow citizens from crime, violence, and terrorism; to empower the most vulnerable among us; and to uphold the rule of law.” 

EOUSA Director Monty Wilkinson echoed those sentiments, saying to the recipients, “You have persevered, and remained focused and motivated – achieving remarkable results in work that makes a difference in the lives of citizens across our great country. The vast scope of your collective accomplishments is nothing short of exceptional.”

Ms. Neda received her Director’s Award for her outstanding prosecution of United States v. Armando Gutierrez, Joseph Kupfer and Elizabeth Kupfer, on charges arising out of the theft of $2.5 million in federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds.  In fall 2010, Ms. Neda assumed responsibility for the federal prosecution after related state charges met procedural roadblocks and subsequently were dismissed.  Ms. Neda obtained an indictment in December 2010 and a superseding indictment in July 2011, shortly before the statute of limitations expired. After the case was bifurcated for trial purposes, she obtained guilty verdicts against the defendants in two trials.

Ms. Cox received the Executive Achievement Award for her 24 years of service to the Justice Department and the District of New Mexico. During her 14 years as the Director of Administration, Ms. Cox has been universally respected for her integrity, dedication, and leadership, as well as her commitment to the professional development and well-being of the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) staff.  Ms. Cox worked her way up to the Director of Administration position from a secretarial position, during which time she completed a college degree in a field that has enhanced her value to the Department and the USAO.

Mr. Vasquez, who recently transferred to the USAO in New Mexico from the District of Nevada, was recognized for the prosecution of Nicholas Bickle and his co-conspirators in that district on charges arising from their illegal possession and sale of military firearms.  Bickle, then a Navy SEAL, used his position to smuggle scores of military firearms into the United States when his unit redeployed from Iraq.   Those firearms included dozens of AK-47 style machine guns (many bearing markings of Iraq’s armed forces), other machine guns, and multiple semi-automatic pistols which the United States had previously procured for Iraq’s security forces.  Bickle and his co-conspirators transported most of those weapons from California to Nevada and Colorado where they sold them to an undercover ATF task force agent posing as an illicit firearms dealer.  After his co-defendants pled guilty, Bickle was convicted following a three-week trial and sentenced to 17 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez applauded the Justice Department’s recognition of the work performed by Ms. Neda, Ms. Cox and Mr. Vasquez, and said, “The work for which these three public servants were recognized today embodies the Justice Department’s commitment to do justice, protect our fellow citizens from crime and violence, and to uphold the rule of law while adhering to the highest standards of professionalism.  I am proud to count each of them as a colleague and partner.”

EOUSA provides oversight, general executive assistance, and direction to the 94 United States Attorneys’ offices around the country. For more information on EOUSA and its mission, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao.

ALBUQUERQUE – Jerry J. Barrera, 30, of Roswell, N.M., pleaded guilty this afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. 

Barrera is being prosecuted 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 for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

Barrera was arrested in March 2014, based on a criminal complaint alleging that he unlawfully possessed a firearm and ammunition on Feb. 26, 2014, in Chaves County, N.M.  Barrera subsequently was indicted on that same charge on June 18, 2014.  Barrera was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition in Feb. 2014, because he previously had been convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

Barrera has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  At sentencing, Barrera faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in prison. 

This case was investigated by the Roswell office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force with assistance from the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Two women from Alamogordo, N.M., were sentenced in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., this morning for participating in a conspiracy to obtain prescription drugs by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception and subterfuge by filling fraudulent prescriptions at retail pharmacies.  Sharon Carter, 57, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release.  Her co-defendant Connie Coble, 52, was sentenced to 36 days of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release.

Carter and Coble were charged in a 66-count indictment filed on March 19, 2014.  Count 1 of the indictment charged both women with conspiracy to fraudulently obtain Hydrocodone, a prescription painkiller, by filling fraudulent prescriptions at retail pharmacies in Doña Ana and Otero Counties, N.M., between Aug. 10, 2013 and Sept. 30, 2013.  Count 2 charged Carter alone with unlawfully distributing Hydrocodone between Dec. 2011 and Dec. 2013 in Otero County, and Counts 3 through 66 charged Carter alone with fraudulently obtaining Hydrocodone on dates between April 20, 2013 and Dec. 19, 2013.

Carter was arrested on Dec. 19, 2013, based on a criminal complaint and has been in federal custody since that time.  She entered a guilty plea to all 66 counts of the indictment on April 30, 2014, without the benefit of any plea agreement. 

Coble was arrested on March 21, 2014.  On June 17, 2014, Coble pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment, the sole charge against her, under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  In her plea agreement, Coble admitted that between Aug. 10, 2013 and Sept. 30, 2013, she conspired with Carter to fill fraudulent prescriptions for Hydrocodone at various pharmacies in Doña Ana and Otero Counties. 

According to Coble’s plea agreement, Carter posed as a doctor and called in prescriptions for non-existent persons and Coble went with Carter to the pharmacies to pick up the Hydrocodone after the prescriptions had been filled.  Throughout the course of the conspiracy, Carter and her accomplices passed 184 fraudulent prescriptions and unlawfully obtained 18,480 pills.

This case was investigated by the Tactical Diversion Squad of the El Paso Division of the DEA with assistance from the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and the Alamogordo Department of Public Safety, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Gould of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

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.

ALBUQUERQUE – Joseph Edward Lucero, 24, entered a guilty plea this morning to an assault charge arising out of the drive-by shooting of an Acoma Pueblo home in Dec. 2012.  Lucero’s three co-defendants previously entered guilty pleas to crimes arising out of that drive-by-shooting.

Lucero, Preston Chino, 21, Cameron Joseph Kasero, 21, and Andrea Carrillo, 22, all members and residents of Laguna Pueblo, were indicted in July 2013 on assault and firearms charges.  The indictment charged the four defendants with assaulting two men and a woman on Dec. 9, 2012, by discharging firearms at a residence located in Acoma Pueblo in Cibola County, N.M.

During today’s hearing, Lucero pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon.  Lucero admitted obtaining a firearm from Chino and discharging the firearm multiple times at the residence while it was occupied by the victims.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Lucero will be sentenced to a prison term within the range of 72 to 96 months followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

Chino entered a guilty plea on Aug. 27, 2014, to an assault charge and admitted aiding Kasero and Lucero in assaulting the three victims by providing shotguns and ammunition to them.  He also admitted driving his co-defendants to the victims’ Acoma Pueblo home where they discharged the shotguns multiple times in the direction of the residence.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Chino will be sentenced to 96 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

Kasero and Carrillo entered guilty pleas on Sept. 2, 2014.  Kasero admitted assaulting the victims discharging a shotgun at a residence while it was occupied by the victims. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Kasero will be sentenced to 96 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court. 

In entering her guilty plea, Carrillo admitted aiding the assault on the victims by providing her cohorts with directions to the residence with the understanding that they intended to commit an assault at that location.   Carrillo faces a statutory maximum sentence of ten years in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  

The sentencing hearings in this case have yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI, the Laguna Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services, the Acoma Pueblo Tribal Police and the Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Nelson Begay, 33, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon to 90 months in federal prison for his child pornography conviction.  Begay will be on supervised release for 15 years after completing his prison sentence and will be required to register as a sex offender.

The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, Special Agent in Charge Dennis A. Ulrich, II, of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in El Paso, Texas, and New Mexico Attorney General Gary K. King.

Begay was arrested on Nov. 13, 2013, on a criminal complaint charging him with receiving and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Shortly before his arrest, Begay resigned from his position as an officer of the Albuquerque Police Department. 

On Dec. 4, 2013, Begay was indicted and charged with two counts of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.  The indictment alleged that Begay received child pornography in Nov. 2012 and April 2013, and that he possessed child pornography in Nov. 2013, in Bernalillo County, N.M.

According to court filings, in Sept. 2013, a special agent with the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office (NMAGO) identified an IP address that was being used to share files containing child pornography while conducting an investigation targeting those who share child pornography on peer-to-peer file sharing networks.  Subsequent investigation revealed that the IP address was subscribed to Begay at a residential address in northeast Albuquerque.

Court records reflect that on Nov. 7, 2013, HSI and other agencies participating in the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force executed a federal search warrant at Begay’s residence and seized computers and computer-related media.  A forensic examination of a laptop computer taken from a bedroom used by Begay recovered images consistent with child pornography.

On March 26, 2014, Begay entered a guilty plea to Count 1 of the indictment charging him with receipt of child pornography.  In his plea agreement, Begay admitted that on Nov. 1, 2012, he used file-sharing software to download and share child pornography, including a video that was almost 30 minutes in duration that was a compilation of many video clips of minors performing various sexual acts.  During today’s sentencing hearing, Begay was ordered to pay $1000.00 in restitution to the victim whose image appears in the aforementioned video.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of HSI, the NMAGO, and other members of the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob A. Wishard 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/.

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 74 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the NMAGO.  Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.

ALBUQUERQUE – Antonio Yazzie, 22, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Lukachukai, Ariz., pleaded guilty this morning to an assault with a dangerous weapon charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Yazzie and his sister Maraintoinette Lynn Yazzie, 26, also of Lukachukai, Ariz., were arrested in April 2014, on a criminal complaint alleging that attacked a Navajo man at his home in Tohlakai, N.M., on Feb. 26, 2014.  The two subsequently were indicted in May 2014, and charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of robbery.  According to court filings, Yazzie and his sister allegedly assaulted the victim by restraining him and striking him repeatedly in the face and head with a rock and a coffee mug.  The two then allegedly robbed the victim of cash and his truck.

During today’s proceedings, Yazzie pled guilty to Count 1 charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon.  In his plea agreement, Yazzie admitted striking the victim in the head and the face with a rock and a coffee mug with the intent to do bodily harm.

Yazzie has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  At sentencing, he faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in prison.

Mariantoinette Lynn Yazzie has been in federal custody since her arrest and has entered a not guilty plea to the charges in the indictment.  Charges in the indictment are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This case was investigated by the Crownpoint office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul H. Spiers.

ALBUQUERQUE – John A. Crowe, 54, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today for distributing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Crowe will serve a prison term of ten years followed by a five-year term of supervised release.  He will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.   Crowe also was ordered to pay $500.00 in restitution to the victim depicted in the image at issue in the crime of conviction.

Crowe was arrested on May 28, 2011, on a criminal complaint charging him with transportation and possession of child pornography, and has been in federal custody since that time.  At the time of his arrest, Crowe was employed by the Transportation Security Administration. 

In June 2011, Crowe was indicted on child pornography charges.  A superseding indictment was filed in July 2012, charging Crowe with advertising child pornography in March 2011, transportation of child pornography in Nov. 2010; distribution of child pornography on two occasions in March 2011, and possession of child pornography from April 2011 to May 2011.  The indictment alleged that Crowe committed these offenses in Bernalillo County, N.M.

According to court filings, the investigation leading to Crowe’s arrest began in March 2011, when an officer with the Online Predator Unit of the New Mexico State Police (NMSP) identified an IP address that was being used to share files containing child pornography while conducting an investigation targeting those who share child pornography on peer-to-peer file sharing networks.  Subsequent investigation revealed that the IP address was subscribed to Crowe at a residence in the west side of Albuquerque.

On May 26, 2011, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the NMSP executed a search warrant at Crowe’s residence seized a computer and computer-related media.  During a recorded interview that day, Crowe admitted using his computer to search for and download child pornography.  A forensic examination of the computer and computer-related media revealed that they contained images and videos of child pornography, including videos of minor females who appeared to be filmed by a hidden camera located in a bathroom and a bedroom of a residence.  During a recorded interview on May 28, 2011, Crowe admitted recording the videos when he lived in Alabama and Georgia and that the minor females were daughters of former girlfriends who were unaware that he was filming them as they undressed.  Crowe acknowledged bringing the child pornography with him when he moved to New Mexico in Nov. 2010.
           
On Jan. 9, 2014, Crowe pled guilty to Count 6 of the superseding indictment charging him with distribution of child pornography, and admitted distributing child pornography on March 12, 2011.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of HSI and the NMSP.  It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob A. Wishard 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/.

The Operation 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 64 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the 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 – Dale N. Smith, 60, of Edgewood, N.M., was sentenced today for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by selling or offering to sell Bald Eagle feathers.  Smith, who has been in custody since April 2014, received a sentence of time served, but will remain in federal custody until Dec. 9, 2014, for violating his parole by committing the crime of conviction in this case.

Smith was arrested on April 10, 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Lacey Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act in March 2014, in Santa Fe County, N.M.  Smith was indicted on May 7, 2014, and charged with three counts of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and one count of violating the Lacey Act.

Smith, a member of the Lakota/Sioux Tribe of the Hunkpapa Band of Lakota, was charged as the result of an undercover investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that began on March 7, 2014, and concluded with Smith’s arrest on April 10, 2014.  The investigation was initiated after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received information that Smith had posted on an Internet website photographs of Indian arts and crafts which appeared to include federally protected feathers. 

On March 7, 2014, an undercover agent contacted Smith and inquired about the feathers on one particular piece of art.  Smith responded that the feathers were Bald Eagle feathers and offered to sell the artwork for $1,000.  On March 20, 2014, Smith sold a feather fan containing Bald Eagle feathers and a medicine wheel containing Bald Eagle feathers to the undercover agent for $1,000.  On March 20, 2014 and again on March 24, 2014, Smith offered to sell a headdress with bald eagle feathers to the undercover agent for $2,000.

On June 25, 2014, Smith pled guilty to one count of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and admitted selling a feather fan with Bald Eagle feathers to an undercover agent on March 20, 2014.  In his plea agreement, Smith acknowledged that the Bald Eagle qualifies as a migratory bird and that he violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act when he sold the Bald Eagle feather fan to the undercover agent.

Bald Eagles are amongst more than 1000 wild birds protected under the federal wildlife laws, including the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and the Lacey Act.  Among other things, these laws prohibit the possession, use, and sale of the feathers or other parts of federally protected birds, as well as the unauthorized killing of these birds, to help ensure that the Eagle and other bird populations remain healthy and sustainable.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul H. Spiers.  The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement with assistance from the New Mexico Game and Fish Department, Homeland Security Investigations, the U. S. Marshals Service, and Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office.  

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.  It is both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for its scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals, and commitment to public service.  For more information on its work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.  Connect with its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/usfws, follow its tweets at www.twitter.com/usfwshq, watch its YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/usfws and download photos from its Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq.

ALBUQUERQUE – Bryan O’Keef Kimble, 30, of Artesia, N.M., was sentenced this morning in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 230 months in prison for his conviction on firearms and methamphetamine trafficking charges.  Kimble will be on supervised release for four years after completing his prison sentence.

U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez said that Kimble was prosecuted 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 for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

“This is a great example of our cooperative enforcement efforts with our state and local partners.  Our community is much safer with this repeat offender behind bars,” stated Special Agent in Charge Thomas Atteberry of the Phoenix Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,

Kimble was transferred from state custody to federal custody in March 2013 to face federal charges in a criminal complaint alleging that law enforcement authorities seized firearms, methamphetamine and other drugs from Kimble on two separate occasions in Aug. and Sept. 2012.  In Aug. 2013, Kimble was indicted and charged with two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition (Counts 1 and 4); two counts of carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime (Counts 2 and 5); two counts of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute (Counts 3 and 7); and one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number (Count 6).

Kimble was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition in 2012 because he previously had been convicted of the following felony offenses:  possession of a controlled substance in the 3rd Judicial District Court for the State of New Mexico (Doña Ana County); and being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.

According to the criminal complaint, on Aug. 12, 2012, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office arrested Kimble in Las Cruces on local charges after a deputy found a loaded handgun and methamphetamine in Kimble’s possession.  During a search of Kimble’s vehicle, deputies found another firearm, more methamphetamine, marijuana and heroin.  On Sept. 14, 2012, the Las Cruces Police Department and U.S. Marshals Service arrested Kimble in Las Cruces on an outstanding state warrant.  At the time of this second arrest, Kimble was in possession of methamphetamine, approximately 40 pills, and $4,725 in cash; a 9 mm pistol with an obliterated serial number was later found in Kimble’s vehicle.    

On Feb. 5, 2014, Kimble entered a guilty plea to all but Count 5 of the seven-count indictment.  Subsequently, Kimble pled guilty to state offenses arising out of the two incidents leading to his federal charges in the 3rd Judicial District Court for the State of New Mexico and is awaiting sentencing in his state case.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the Las Cruces Police Department, the Las Cruces office of the U.S. Marshals Service and the 3rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

ALBUQUERQUE – Andres Salinas, 19, of Albuquerque, N.M., was arrested yesterday by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on federal child pornography charges.  Salinas made his initial appearance in federal court earlier today, and remains in custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Salinas is charged in a criminal complaint with possessing and receiving visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  According to the criminal complaint, the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office (NMAGO) initiated the investigation leading to Salina’s arrest in July 2014 after identifying an IP address that allegedly was being used to download child pornography.  Subsequent investigation revealed that the IP address was subscribed to Salinas’ residence. 

Yesterday, HSI and other law enforcement agency members of the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force executed a federal search warrant at Salinas’ residence and seized computer media from Salinas’ bedroom.  A preliminary examination of the computer media revealed that it contained images consistent with child pornography.

If convicted of the charges in the criminal complaint, Salinas faces a federal prison term of not less than five years and not more than 20 years.  Salinas also would be required to register as a sex offender.  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 Albuquerque office of HSI, the NMAGO and other members of the New Mexico ICAC Task Force.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob A. Wishard 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/.

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 74 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the NMAGO.  Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.

ALBUQUERQUE – Leonard Bridge, II, 44, of Albuquerque, N.M., pled guilty yesterday to embezzling assets from a labor organization.  Under the terms of the plea agreement, the parties will recommend that the court sentence Bridge to a prison term within the range of 12 to 24 months followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  Bridge also will have to pay $140,877.56 in restitution to the union.

Bridge was indicted in Feb. 2014 and charged with 20 counts of embezzlement of assets from a labor organization.  According to the indictment, Bridge embezzling money belonging to the International Union of Elevator Constructors, Local 131, on 20 separate occasions between April 2009 and Aug. 2011.  Bridge perpetrated his embezzlement scheme by writing checks on the Union’s bank account, making case withdrawals with a debit card, and making cash withdrawals from the bank account.  Bridge was employed as the business manager for the Union from Jan. 2009 through Nov. 2011.

During yesterday’s hearing, Bridge entered a guilty plea to Count 1 of the indictment.  In his plea agreement, Bridge admitted while he was the union’s business manager, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the union and that his financial responsibilities included preparing and signing check on the union’s bank accounts, making disbursements, maintaining financial records, and reporting on the union’s finances to the union’s board and membership.  Bridge admitted that while serving as the union’s business manager, he embezzled union funds for his own use.  Bridge accomplished the embezzlement in a variety of ways, including paying himself excess salary, writing unauthorized checks to himself, making unauthorized purchases on the union’s debit card, and making unauthorized cash withdrawals from the union’s bank account.  Bridge acknowledged that when he took office, the union had approximately $106,000.00 in its general account; when he resigned, the general account had $2,400.00.

This case was investigated by the Office of Labor-Management Standards of the U.S. Department of Labor and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Paige Messec.

ALBUQUERQUE – Abel Michael Quiroz, 27, a former U.S. Border Patrol Agent who resides in Las Cruces, N.M., pleaded guilty today to possession of a matter containing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Quiroz will be sentenced to 30 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  Quiroz also will be required to register as a sex offender.

Quiroz was arrested on April 29, 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with receiving and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  According to the criminal complaint, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) initiated an investigation into Quiroz after receiving information that an adult male, later confirmed to be Quiroz, was having inappropriate communications with a 15-year-old child (victim).

The complaint alleges that execution of a search warrant for the contents of an email address belonging to Quiroz revealed numerous sexually explicit communications between Quiroz and the victim as well as nude and sexually explicit photographs of the victim.  On April 29, 2014, HSI special agents executed a federal search warrant at Quiroz’s residence where they seized digital media and arrested Quiroz.  There is no evidence suggesting that Quiroz’s criminal activities were conducted with government-owned equipment or technology.

During today’s plea hearing, Quiroz entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him with possession of child pornography.  In his plea agreement, Quiroz admitted that from Feb. 2013 through Oct. 2013, he communicated with the victim, whom he knew to be a minor residing in a state other than New Mexico, through online chats, mail, email, telephone conversations and text messages.  Quiroz admitted receiving sexually explicit photographs of the victim via email and unlawfully possessing the photographs in his email account.

This case was investigated by the Child Exploitation Unit of HSI’s office in Las Cruces pursuant to Project iGuardian, an HSI initiative designed to reach children, parents and teachers and share information about the dangers of online environments, how to stay safe online and how to report abuse and suspicious activity.   The Las Cruces Police Department assisted in the prosecution of this case.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Shapiro of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office 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/.

The Operation 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 74 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies associated with the New Mexico ICAC Task Force, which is funded by a grant administered by the NMAGO.  Anyone with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse is encouraged to contact federal or local law enforcement.

ALBUQUERQUE – Two more members of Laguna Pueblo have entered guilty pleas to crimes arising out of the drive-by shooting of an Acoma Pueblo home in Dec. 2012.

Cameron Joseph Kasero, 21, pleaded guilty today to an assault with a dangerous weapon charge.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Kasero will be sentenced to 96 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  His sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled. 

Andrea Carrillo, 22, also entered a guilty plea today.  Carrillo pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting an assault with a dangerous weapon.  At sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled, she faces a statutory maximum sentence of ten years in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  

Kasero and Carrillo were two of four Laguna Pueblo members charged with assault and firearms offenses arising out of a drive-by shooting at an Acoma Pueblo home.  They and their two co-defendants, Preston Chino, 21, and Joseph Edward Lucero, 24, were indicted in July 2013, for assaulting two men and a woman on Dec. 9, 2012, by discharging firearms at a residence located in Acoma Pueblo in Cibola County, N.M.

During his plea hearing, Kasero admitted assaulting the victims discharging a shotgun at a residence while it was occupied by the victims.  During her plea hearing, Carrillo admitted aiding the assault on the victims by providing her co-defendants with directions to the residence with the understanding that her co-defendants intended to commit an assault at that location.   

Co-defendant Chino entered a guilty plea on Aug. 27, 2014, to a federal assault charge, and admitted aiding Kasero and Lucero in assaulting the three victims by providing shotguns and ammunition to them.  He also admitted driving his co-defendants to the victims’ Acoma Pueblo home where they discharged the shotguns multiple times in the direction of the residence.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Chino will be sentenced to 96 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  Chino is in federal custody and will remain detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

Co-defendant Lucero has entered a not guilty plea to the charges in the indictment.  Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI, the Laguna Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services, the Acoma Pueblo Tribal Police and the Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Two more members of Laguna Pueblo have entered guilty pleas to crimes arising out of the drive-by shooting of an Acoma Pueblo home in Dec. 2012.

Cameron Joseph Kasero, 21, pleaded guilty today to an assault with a dangerous weapon charge.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Kasero will be sentenced to 96 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  His sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled. 

Andrea Carrillo, 22, also entered a guilty plea today.  Carrillo pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting an assault with a dangerous weapon.  At sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled, she faces a statutory maximum sentence of ten years in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  

Kasero and Carrillo were two of four Laguna Pueblo members charged with assault and firearms offenses arising out of a drive-by shooting at an Acoma Pueblo home.  They and their two co-defendants, Preston Chino, 21, and Joseph Edward Lucero, 24, were indicted in July 2013, for assaulting two men and a woman on Dec. 9, 2012, by discharging firearms at a residence located in Acoma Pueblo in Cibola County, N.M.

During his plea hearing, Kasero admitted assaulting the victims discharging a shotgun at a residence while it was occupied by the victims.  During her plea hearing, Carrillo admitted aiding the assault on the victims by providing her co-defendants with directions to the residence with the understanding that her co-defendants intended to commit an assault at that location.   

Co-defendant Chino entered a guilty plea on Aug. 27, 2014, to a federal assault charge, and admitted aiding Kasero and Lucero in assaulting the three victims by providing shotguns and ammunition to them.  He also admitted driving his co-defendants to the victims’ Acoma Pueblo home where they discharged the shotguns multiple times in the direction of the residence.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Chino will be sentenced to 96 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  Chino is in federal custody and will remain detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

Co-defendant Lucero has entered a not guilty plea to the charges in the indictment.  Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI, the Laguna Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services, the Acoma Pueblo Tribal Police and the Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Julius Scott Mendez, 21, a member of the Mescalero Apache Nation who resides in Mescalero, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to two years of probation for his misdemeanor assault conviction. Mendez also spent 65 days in federal custody while awaiting sentencing.

Mendez was arrested on Oct. 10, 2013, on a criminal complaint charging him with assault.  According to court filings, Mendez assaulted the victim, another Mescalero Apache man, in a location within the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

Mendez pled guilty on June 25, 2014, to a misdemeanor information charging him with assault by striking, beating or wounding.  During his plea hearing, Mendez admitted to assaulting the victim in the early morning hours of Oct. 10, 2013, by kicking the victim in the face and chest.  Mendez also acknowledged that, at the time of the assault, the victim was lying on the ground and unable to defend himself.

This case was investigated by the Mescalero Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

ALBUQUERQUE – Daniel Lujan, 24, of Las Vegas, N.M., pleaded guilty today to a four-count superseding indictment, charging him with a bank robbery, the robbery of two convenience stores located in tribal communities, and the robbery of a business involved in interstate commerce occurring in two days in Aug. 2011.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Lujan will be sentenced to 144 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

Lujan was arrested on Aug. 11, 2011, on a criminal complaint charging him with robbing the Community 1st Bank located at 701 Legion Drive, in Las Vegas, N.M., on Aug. 1, 2011.    In Dec. 2012, Lujan was charged in a four-count superseding indictment with committing the following four robberies:  (1) the Community 1st Bank in San Miguel County, N.M., on Aug. 1, 2011; (2) the Santo Domingo Travel Center in Kewa Pueblo on Aug. 2, 2011; (3) the San Felipe Travel Center in San Felipe Pueblo on Aug. 2, 2011; and (4) the Giant Gas Station, a business engaged in interstate commerce, in Bernalillo, N.M., on Aug. 2011.  The businesses robbed on Aug. 2, 2011, were located in Sandoval County, N.M. 

During today’s hearing, Lujan entered a guilty plea to all four counts of the superseding indictment and admitted robbing the bank and the three businesses identified in the indictment.  Lujan has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Santa Fe office of the FBI with assistance from the Las Vegas Police Department, the Southern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services, the Parole and Probation Division of the New Mexico Corrections Department, the New Mexico State Police, and the 4th and 13th Judicial District Attorneys’ Offices.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis E. Valencia is prosecuting the case. 

This case is being prosecuted 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 for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

ALBUQUERQUE – Jonathan Madrid, 28, of Roswell, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction.  Madrid was sentenced to 188 months in federal prison to be followed by four years of supervised release.

Madrid was arrested on June 25, 2013, based on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute.  On April 4, 2014, Madrid pled guilty to an indictment charging him with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in Chaves County, N.M., on June 6, 2013. 

Court filings reflect that Madrid was charged based on evidence developed by an ATF investigation.  As part of that investigation, ATF executed a federal search warrant and searched the vehicle that Madrid was driving on June 6, 2013.  As a result, agents seized multiple small baggies of methamphetamine, a digital scale and $168.00 from Madrid’s pocket.  ATF also seized a firearm from the trunk of the vehicle and ammunition from the cab of the vehicle.  According to court filings, Madrid had previously been convicted of possession of cocaine and tampering with evidence, trafficking in a controlled substance, aggravated sexual assault of a child and felon in possession of a firearm.

U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez said that Madrid was being prosecuted 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 for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – This morning the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed an unopposed motion to dismiss the charges against Thomas R. Rodella, Jr., in the criminal case captioned United States v. Thomas R. Rodella and Thomas R. Rodella, Jr, 14-CR-2783 JB (DNM).

Thomas R. Rodella, Jr., and his father, Thomas R. Rodella, the Sheriff of Rio Arriba County, were indicted by a federal grand jury on Aug. 12, 2014.  The two men were arrested by the FBI on Aug. 15, 2014.

The charges in the five-count indictment arise out of a March 11, 2014 incident occurring in Rio Arriba County, N.M., during which Sheriff Rodella and Thomas R. Rodella, Jr., allegedly engaged in the high-speed pursuit and unreasonable seizure of a victim identified as “M.T.”  Count 1 of the Indictment charges the two men with participating in a conspiracy to violate the victim’s civil rights by subjecting him to an unreasonable seizure while acting under color of law.  Count 2 charges them with subjecting the victim to an unreasonable seizure while acting under color of law and alleges that the offense against the victim involved the use of a dangerous weapon and resulted in bodily injury to the victim.  Count 3 charges Sheriff Rodella with brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.  Counts 4 and 5 charge Sheriff Rodella and Thomas R. Rodella, Jr., respectively, with making false statements in law enforcement reports regarding the events giving rise to charges in Counts 1 and 2 of the indictment.

The United States’ motion seeks dismissal of the charges against Thomas R. Rodella, Jr., based on information indicating that he has a medical condition that puts into doubt whether he has the cognitive ability to form the specific intent necessary to prove the charges against him beyond a reasonable doubt.  The motion states that the United States learned about the medical condition after the indictment was filed and after Thomas R. Rodella, Jr., was arrested.  The United States concluded that it was in the interests of justice to seek dismissal of the charges against Thomas R. Rodella, Jr., after conducting an investigation into his medical condition.

The United States is proceeding with the prosecution of the case against Sheriff Rodella, the trial of which is scheduled to begin on Sept. 22, 2014.  The United States reiterates that charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

• Motion to Dismiss

ALBUQUERQUE – Alvert Miller, 39, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, N.M., was sentenced this morning to 72 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for his second degree murder conviction.
 
Miller was arrested on May 1, 2013, based on a criminal complaint charging him with involuntary manslaughter for killing a 53-year-old Navajo man and driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor on April 27, 2013.  Miller subsequently was indicted on May 29, 2013, and charged with second degree murder.

According to court filings, on April 27, 2013, Miller was intoxicated when he lost control of the truck he was driving, causing a rollover collision on U.S. Highway 491 near Littlewater, N.M., which is located within the Navajo Indian Reservation.  When the truck rolled over, the initial impact was on the passenger side of the vehicle, causing the victim, who was a passenger in Miller’s truck, to be ejected.  The victim died upon impact as a result of blunt force trauma to the face and head.  On April 29, 2013, during an interview with a tribal police investigator, Miller admitted that the rollover occurred because he was driving while intoxicated and fell asleep at the wheel.

On April 23, 2014, Miller pled guilty to the indictment and admitted killing the victim while driving under the influence of alcohol.  In his plea agreement, Miller acknowledged that he knew based on his prior convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol that his conduct imperiled the lives of others. 

The case was investigated by the Albuquerque and Farmington offices of the FBI and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Novaline D. Wilson and Kyle T. Nayback.

ALBUQUERQUE – Joseph Paddock, 21, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Pine Hill, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning to a federal assault charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Paddock was arrested on April 28, 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with assault, and subsequently was charged in an indictment with assault with a dangerous weapon.  According to court filings, Paddock assaulted the victim, a security guard employed by the Ramah Navajo School Board, by cutting him with a knife on April 18, 2014, at a location within the Navajo Indian Reservation. 

During today’s hearing, Paddock entered a guilty plea to the indictment and admitted that on April 18, 2014, he assaulted the victim with a knife with the intent of causing bodily harm.  Paddock acknowledged that as a result of the assault, the victim sustained injuries that required multiple stitches.

Paddock has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  At sentencing, Paddock faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in prison. 

This case was investigated by the Ramah Navajo Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob A. Wishard.

ALBUQUERQUE – Norman Stan Chee, 22, a member of the Mescalero Apache Nation, was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 30 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release for his statutory rape conviction.  Chee will be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.

Chee was arrested in Oct. 2013, based on a criminal complaint alleging that he knowingly engaged in a sexual act with a child between 12 and 16 years of age.  On Jan. 28, 2014, Chee entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him with engaging in a sexual act with a minor who was at least four years younger than Chee.  According to the information, Chee committed the crime on Feb. 21, 2012, at a location within the Mescalero Apache Reservation in Otero County, N.M.

According to court filings, the BIA initiated an investigation into Chee in July 2012, when officers responded to a call regarding an alleged assault and saw Chee and the victim, who was 15 years old, fleeing from the site of the assault.  During an interview, the victim admitted having engaged in sexual activity with Chee.  Chee also was interviewed and admitted that he engaged in sexual acts with the victim.  Chee stated that his sexual relationship with the victim began in Feb. 2012, and admitted knowing that the victim was 15 years old.

This case was investigated by the Mescalero Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U .S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office 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 – Zachary Milton Hess, 19, of Las Cruces, N.M., made his initial appearance in Las Cruces federal court yesterday on a criminal complaint charging him with using the Internet to make a threat or to maliciously convey false information.  Hess remains in custody pending a detention hearing scheduled for August 28, 2014.

The criminal complaint alleges that on May 27, 2014, an individual anonymously threatened to “shoot [his] college campus up in 3 days” and identified his school as “NMSU” while “chatting” on an Internet chat website.  According to the criminal complaint, another individual saw the threat and posted a screen shot of the threat onto NMSU’s FaceBook page.  Thereafter, the threat was passed onto law enforcement, including the FBI.  The FBI’s investigation revealed that the IP Address for the Internet connection from which the threat was posted was subscribed to Hess’ residence. An examination of Hess’s computer revealed that the computer allegedly had been used to visit the website on which the threat was posted.

The criminal complaint alleges that NMSU expended significant resources in responding to the threat.  Among other things, NMSU officials informed approximately 18,774 students, facility, staff and private citizens about the anonymous threat; advised students, faculty and staff to depart the campus; and shut down its new student registration process.  NMSU allegedly lost approximately 1000 staff hours in responding to the threat.

If convicted on the charge in the criminal complaint, Hess faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in prison.  Charges in criminal complaints are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the NMSU Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Lizarraga of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

ALBUQUERQUE – Preston Chino, 21, a member and resident of Laguna Pueblo, pleaded this morning to a federal assault charge.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Chino will be sentenced to 96 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

Chino was one of four members of Laguna Pueblo charged with assault and firearms offenses arising out of a drive-by shooting at an Acoma Pueblo home.  Chino and his co-defendants, Cameron Joseph Kasero, 21, Joseph Edward Lucero, 24, and Andrea Carrillo, 22, were indicted in July 2013, for allegedly assaulting two men and a woman on Dec. 9, 2012, by discharging firearms at a residence located in Acoma Pueblo in Cibola County, N.M.

This morning, Chino admitted aiding and abetting Kasero and Lucero in assaulting the three victims by providing shotguns and ammunition to Kasero and Lucero.  Chino also admitted driving Kasero and Lucero to the victims’ Acoma Pueblo home where they discharged the shotguns multiple times in the direction of the residence.

Chino is in federal custody and will remain detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

Co-defendants Kasero, Lucero and Carrillo have entered not guilty pleas to the charges in the indictment.  Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI, the Laguna Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services, the Acoma Pueblo Tribal Police and the Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Elbanal Al Johnson, 34, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Crownpoint, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning to a felony information charging him with abusive sexual contact.  Under the terms of the plea agreement, Johnson will be sentenced to ten years in federal prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  Johnson will have to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.

Johnson was arrested in March 2013, based on a criminal complaint charging him with sexually assaulting an 11-year-old Indian child in Crownpoint in Nov. 2012.  According to court filings, the child victim was in Johnson’s care when Johnson committed the crime.  During today’s proceedings, Johnson admitted sexually assaulting the child victim on Nov. 5, 2012.

Johnson has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has not been scheduled. 

This case was investigated by the Gallup office of the FBI and the Crownpoint office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Novaline D. Wilson.

The case was brought 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 – John Wade Crist, 57, of Las Cruces, N.M., was sentenced this morning in Las Cruces federal court for his conviction on methamphetamine trafficking and firearms charges.  Crist will serve a 78-month prison sentence that will be followed by four years of supervised release.

Crist was arrested on Nov. 15, 2013, and a two-count indictment charging him with distribution of methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm.  According to the indictment, Crist distributed methamphetamine and possessed a firearm in Doña Ana County, N.M., on June 19, 2013.  At the time, Crist was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of two narcotics trafficking offenses.

On May 7, 2014, Crist entered a guilty plea to the indictment.  In his plea agreement, Crist admitted selling 23.3 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover officer who was posing as a drug dealer on June 19, 2013, in Doña Ana County.  Crist also admitted that on that same date, he possessed a shotgun and sold the firearm to the undercover officer.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office. 

ALBUQUERQUE – Ana Lopez, 24, of Albuquerque, N.M., pleaded guilty in federal court in Las Cruces yesterday afternoon to an indictment charging her with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin.  In entering her guilty plea, Ana Lopez admitted participating in a conspiracy to smuggle drugs into the Otero County Prison Facility (OCPF) between Dec. 2013 and April 2014. 

Lopez was one of six individuals charged in April 2014, in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to violate the federal narcotics laws by smuggling controlled substances into the OCPF.  The other defendants charged with participating in the conspiracy were Luis Delgadillo, 37, of El Paso, Texas, who was then employed as a corrections officer at OCPF, Nancy Salas, 35, of Alamogordo, N.M., and three OCPF inmates, Eric Lovato, 30, of Boles Acres, N.M., and Armando Lopez, 27, and Gary Borja, 26, both of Albuquerque.  All six defendants subsequently were indicted on a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin charge on Aug. 20, 2014.

According to court filings, the FBI initiated an investigation into the case in Jan. 2014, after receiving information from the New Mexico Corrections Department allegedly showing that Delgadillo was smuggling heroin and methamphetamine into the OCPF.  The investigation, which included a review of recorded inmate telephone calls and OCPF surveillance video, physical surveillance and the results of inmate drug testing, identified the six defendants as members of a conspiracy who allegedly smuggled narcotics into the OCPF between Jan. 2014 and April 2014. 

In her plea agreement, Ana Lopez admitted participating in a conspiracy to smuggle drugs into the OCPF.  The plea agreement states that Ana Lopez was recruited to help smuggle drugs into the prison in Jan. 2014.  Ana Lopez admitted delivering an ounce of heroin in Feb. 2014 and again in March 2014, to a person knowing that the person would give it to a corrections officer who would smuggle the heroin into the prison.  Ana Lopez also admitted that on April 26, 2014, she met with the corrections officer and gave him 25 grams of methamphetamine, 11 grams of heroin and 10 suboxone pills so he could smuggle the drugs into the prison.

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

The five co-defendants have entered not guilty pleas to the indictment.  All five are in federal custody pending trial, which has yet to be scheduled.  Charges in criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusations and criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted in a court of law.

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

ALBUQUERQUE – Jianyu Huang, a scientist formerly employed by Sandia Corporation (Sandia) at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), pleaded guilty this afternoon to making a false statement and unlawfully transporting converted government property in interstate and foreign commerce.  The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez and Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division.

Huang, 46, a naturalized U.S. citizen from the People’s Republic of China who resides in Albuquerque, N.M., was arrested in June 2012, on a six-count indictment charging him with misusing U.S. government resources and equipment to conduct research for Chinese research institutions and with falsely stating that he did not intend to take U.S. government equipment with him on a trip to China.  The indictment subsequently was superseded to add an interstate transportation of converted property charge and a theft of government property charge.  Huang was employed by Sandia until his employment was terminated in late April 2012. 

SNL is a government-owned research facility operated by Sandia Corporation for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) that is responsible for ensuring the safety of the nation’s nuclear stockpile; enhancing the security of energy and other critical resources; reducing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; addressing threats to national security; and protecting the nation against terrorism.  The Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CiNT) is a DOE user facility and science research center devoted to establishing scientific principles that govern the design, performance, and integration of materials on the atomic and molecular scale, located at SNL.

In light of the sensitivity of SNL’s work, all Sandia employees are required to report to the Sandia Office of Counterintelligence (SOC) any substantive relationship with foreign nationals, including associations that involve meeting and sharing work-related information.  Sandia employees also are required to submit to interviews with SOC before international travel on official business, and are prohibited from bringing government-owned equipment on international travel without prior approval.

Huang was employed by Sandia at CiNT, where he worked in an unclassified open science facility without access to classified national security information.  As a Sandia employee, Huang was prohibited from bringing government-owned equipment on international travel without prior approval.

Counts 1 through 5 of the second superseding indictment charged Huang with federal program fraud and alleged that between Jan. 2009 and Jan. 2012, Huang unlawfully and without authority used DOE equipment, materials and property to conduct research for businesses and universities in the People’s Republic of China.  Count 6 charged Huang with making a false statement charge to a federal officer and alleged that, in June 2011, Huang falsely represented to a counterintelligence officer that he would not take any U.S. government electronic equipment with him on an upcoming trip to the People’s Republic of China.  The statement was false because Huang knew that he intended to take a U.S. government computer and hard-drive to the People’s Republic of China on that trip, and did in fact take that equipment with him.  Count 7 charged Huang with the interstate transportation of converted property charge and alleged that between June 30, 2011 and July 18, 2011, Huang unlawfully transported a DOE-owned laptop computer and computer-related media in interstate and foreign commerce.  Count 8 charged Huang with an embezzlement charge and alleged that between April 25, 2012 and June 2, 2012, Huang embezzled electronic files and documents, including research proposals, belonging to DOE that came into his possession by virtue of his employment with SNL.

During his plea hearing this afternoon, Huang pled guilty to Counts 6 and 7 of the second superseding indictment.  In his plea agreement, Huang admitted taking a trip to China in July 2011, for the purpose of attending and making a presentation at a research conference.  Huang acknowledged that in seeking and obtaining Sandia’s permission to participate in the conference, he represented that he would not take any DOE-owned equipment with him.  Huang also admitted deliberately lying to a counterintelligence office when he made the representation because he intended to take his DOE-owned laptop on the trip. 

Huang admitted taking a DOE-owned laptop computer with him when he traveled to China on June 30 and July 1, 2011, even though he knew that he did not have permission to do so.  In so doing, Huang unlawfully converted the laptop computer to his own use.  According to Huang’s plea agreement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents seized the DOE-owned laptop from Huang’s baggage when he returned to the United States on July 18, 2011, after Huang admitted that he did not have permission to take the laptop computer out of the country.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Huang will be sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.  Huang’s sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.     

The case was investigated by the Albuquerque Division of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathon M. Gerson.

ALBUQUERQUE –Alex Wiggins, 52, of Farmington, N.M., was sentenced this morning to a year of probation for his misdemeanor conviction on a depredation of government property charge.  Wiggins also was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. 

Alex Wiggins and his brother Anthony Wiggins, 55, also a Farmington resident, were indicted in June 2013, and charged with conspiracy to depredate government property by dumping liquid waste pumped from residential septic tanks onto federal land in San Juan County, N.M., that was administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  The indictment also charged the two men with three counts of depredation of government property for dumping residential septic tank waste onto federal lands on three separate occasions in March 2013.  At the time of the crimes charged in the indictment, Anthony Wiggins was the primary operator of A-1 Septic, a residential septic tank waste disposal company in Farmington, and Alex Wiggins worked for his brother’s company.

The investigation of this case began in March 2013, after a private citizen reported seeing a black sludge-like substance on a remote rural road in San Juan County to the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office (SJCSO).  After it was determined that the property at which the substance was dumped was federal land, the BLM partnered with the SJCSO to conduct the investigation.  During the investigation, covert cameras photographed a septic vacuum pumper truck and the defendants as they dumped residential septic tank waste onto BLM administered federal lands on March 6 and 9, 2013.

Alex Wiggins entered a guilty plea on May 27, 2014, to a misdemeanor information charging him with depredation of government property.  In his plea agreement, Alex Wiggins admitted that, while working for his brother’s company, he and his brother dumped several truckloads of raw sewage onto land owned and administered by BLM for the purpose of disposing of the waste.  He acknowledged knowing that this was not a proper way to dispose of the septic waste and that it was in fact illegal.

Anthony Wiggins entered a guilty plea in Oct. 2013, to Count 3 of the indictment which charged him with the felony offense of depredation of government property.  He was sentenced on May 30, 2014, to a year of probation and was ordered to pay $2,193.13 in restitution to the BLM to cover the cost for cleaning up the septic waste.

This case was investigated by the BLM and the SCJSO and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean J. Sullivan.

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal jury sitting in Albuquerque, N.M., returned a guilty verdict today against Daniel Phillip Tenorio on sexual abuse charges after a four-day trial, announced U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez and DuWayne W. Honahni, Sr., Special Agent in Charge of District IV of BIA’s Office of Justice Services. 

Tenorio, 55, a member and resident of San Felipe Pueblo in Sandoval County, N.M., was indicted in Sept. 2013, and charged with two counts of abusive sexual contact.  According to the indictment, Tenorio had unlawful sexual contact with the victim between Jan. 2011 and Dec. 2011, in locations with San Felipe Pueblo in Sandoval County, N.M.

Trial of the case commenced on Aug. 18, 2014 and concluded this afternoon when the jury returned a verdict of guilty on both counts of the indictment. 

The evidence at trial established that on Jan. 24, 2012, the BIA initiated an investigation into Tenorio after receiving a referral from a school counselor reporting that a 16-year-old San Felipe Pueblo girl had disclosed possible sexual abuse.  According to the referral, the victim reported that Tenorio had sexually abused her by touching her in inappropriate ways and directing sexual comments at her.  The victim testified about Tenorio’s practice of grabbing and fondling her breasts and bottom and making sexually explicit comments about what he wanted to do to her.  Witnesses testified that they observed Tenorio grab and fondle the victim and direct sexually explicit remarks to her. 

The evidence before the jury included two audio-taped interviews of Tenorio.  During the first interview, Tenorio initially denied the victim’s allegations, but later admitted touching the victim in inappropriate ways and discussing sex in front of her.  During the second interview, Tenorio admitted grabbing and fondling the victim’s chest and bottom and saying that he wanted to engage in sexual acts with her.  He also admitted lying to the law enforcement officers when he initially denied the victim’s allegations.  The evidence also included a handwritten statement by Tenorio in which he admitted having lied to the BIA and FBI when he denied the victim’s allegations, apologized for the way he treated the victim, and expressed remorse for his improper conduct.

Tenorio testified in his own defense and claimed that he was coerced into admitting that he had improper sexual contact with the victim.

Tenorio was remanded into federal custody after the jury returned its verdict and will remain detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  Tenorio faces a statutory maximum of ten years in prison. He will be required to register as a sex offender after completing his prison sentence.

This case was investigated by the Southern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services with assistance from the Albuquerque office of the FBI, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kyle T. Nayback and Novaline D. Wilson.

The case was brought pursuant to the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.

ALBUQUERQUE – Raul Ortega, 21, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon to 18 years in federal prison for his conviction on carjacking and firearms charges.  Ortega will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.  Ortega also was ordered, jointly with his co-defendant, to pay $2335.24 in restitution to the victims of his criminal conduct.

Ortega and his co-defendant, Joel Meeks, 21, also of Albuquerque, were arrested in April 2013, on an eight-count indictment charging the pair with offenses stemming from a series of armed robberies of commercial businesses and home invasions, including armed robbery and carjacking, occurring in Bernalillo County, N.M., from Dec. 6, 2012 to Jan. 17, 2013.

According to court filings, Meeks robbed a business called “Up in Smoke” at gunpoint on Dec. 6, 2012.  Meeks also robbed a business called “PDQ” at gunpoint on Dec. 7, 2012, and discharged his firearm while committing the crime.  Meeks and Ortega jointly committed two carjackings on Jan. 13, 2013 and Jan. 17, 2013, and brandished firearms while committing those crimes.

On Feb. 19, 2014, Ortega entered guilty pleas to Counts 5 and 7 of the indictment, which charged him with the Jan 13, 2013 and Jan. 27, 2013 carjackings.  He also pled guilty to Count 6, which charged him with using a firearm during the Jan 13, 2013 carjacking.

On April 1, 2014, Meeks entered guilty pleas to Counts 3 and 4 of the indictment, which charged him with robbing the PDQ store on Dec. 7, 2012, and with discharging a firearm while robbing the store.  He also pled guilty to Counts 5 and 7, which charged him with the Jan. 13, 2013 carjacking and Jan. 17, 2013 carjacking, respectively.  Meeks remains in custody pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, he faces a prison sentence within the range of 20 to 25 years.

This case was brought as part of a law enforcement initiative launched in July 2012, by the FBI’s Violent Crimes and Major Offender Squad and the Albuquerque Police Department’s Armed Robbery Unit that targets suspects implicated in commercial armed robberies.  This initiative is part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution.  Under the worst of the worst anti-violence 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 with the goal of removing repeat offenders from our communities for as long as possible.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI and the Albuquerque Police Department, with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon K. Stanford.

ALBUQUERQUE – The Justice Department today announced that a former contract employee at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was sentenced this morning for conspiring to violate the Atomic Energy Act by communicating classified nuclear weapons data to a person believed to be a Venezuelan government official, and making false statements to the FBI.

Marjorie Roxby Mascheroni, 71, of Los Alamos, N.M., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William P. Johnson to a year and a day in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release based on a guilty plea entered in June 2013.  Her husband, Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni, 79, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Argentina who is also a former LANL employee, also entered a guilty plea in June 2013, and is in federal custody pending his sentencing hearing.

According to court filings, Mascheroni, a Ph.D. physicist, worked as a scientist at LANL from 1979 to 1988 and held a security clearance that allowed him access to certain classified information, including “Restricted Data.”  Roxby Mascheroni worked at LANL between 1981 and 2010, where her duties included technical writing and editing.  She also held a security clearance at LANL that allowed her access to certain classified information, including “Restricted Data.”  As defined under the Atomic Energy Act, “Restricted Data” is classified information concerning the design, manufacture or use of atomic weapons; the production of special nuclear material; or the use of special nuclear material in the production of energy.

Mascheroni and Roxby Mascheroni were indicted in Sept. 2010, and charged with conspiracy to communicate and communicating Restricted Data to an individual with the intent to secure an advantage to a foreign nation.  The indictment also charged the couple with conspiracy to convey and conveying classified Restricted Data.  It also charged Mascheroni with concealing and retaining U.S. records with the intent to convert them to his own use and gain, and both defendants with making false statements.

Roxby Mascheroni pled guilty to Count 6 of the indictment, charging her with conspiracy, and Counts 16 through 22, charging her with making false statements.  She also pleaded guilty to an information charging her with conspiracy to communicate Restricted Data.  In entering her guilty plea, Roxby Mascheroni admitted that between Oct. 2007 and Oct. 2009, she conspired with Mascheroni to convey Restricted Data belonging to the United States to another person with reason to believe that the information would be used to secure an advantage to Venezuela. She also admitted making materially false statements to the FBI when she was interviewed in Oct. 2009.

Mascheroni pleaded guilty to Counts 7 and 8 of the indictment, charging him with conversion of government property, and Counts 10 through 15, charging him with making false statements.  Mascheroni also pleaded guilty to an information charging him with two counts of communication of Restricted Data and one count of retention of national defense information.  Mascheroni admitted that in Nov. 2008 and July 2009, he unlawfully communicated Restricted Data to another individual with reason to believe that the data would be utilized to secure an advantage to Venezuela.  He also admitted unlawfully converting Department of Energy information to his own use and selling the information in Nov. 2008 and July 2009, and failing to deliver classified information relating to the United States’ national defense to appropriate authorities and instead unlawfully retaining the information in his home.  Finally, Mascheroni admitted making materially false statements to the FBI when he was interviewed in Oct. 2009. 

The indictment in this case did not allege that the government of Venezuela or anyone acting on its behalf sought or was passed any classified information, nor did it charge any Venezuelan government officials or anyone acting on their behalf with wrongdoing.  The indictment also did not allege any wrongdoing by other individuals working at LANL.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Albuquerque Division with assistance from the Department of Energy and LANL.  The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Fred J. Federici, Dean Tuckman and Holland S. Kastrin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico, and Acting Section Chief Kathleen Kedian and Trial Attorney David Recker of the Counterespionage Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal jury sitting in Santa Fe, N.M., returned a verdict this afternoon finding Steven Michael John guilty on sexual abuse charges after a three-day trial. The jury’s verdict was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division, and Director John Billison of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.

John, 21, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Kirtland, N.M., was arrested on July 24, 2013, on a criminal complaint alleging sexual abuse charges.  John was indicted on Aug. 14, 2013, and charged with attempted aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact.  The indictment alleged that John attempted to force the victim to engage in a sexual act at a location within the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, N.M., on July 18, 2013.  It also alleged that John engaged in sexual contact with the victim on that day.

Trial of this case began on Aug. 18, 2014, and concluded this afternoon when the jury returned a guilty verdict on both counts of the indictment.

The evidence at trial established that on the afternoon of July 18, 2013, John broke into a residence in Sanostee, N.M., and attempted to rape a 16- year-old Navajo girl.  The victim was taking a shower when John entered the residence and attacked her.  Although the victim resisted John’s attack and was able to prevent John from raping her, John groped the victim’s naked body during their struggle.  After John fled from the residence, the victim called 911 and reported the assault.  The evidence presented to the jury included the victim’s recorded 911 telephone call, photographs of the injuries the victim suffered as she struggled against John’s attack, and the testimony of medical professionals who treated the victim after the assault.

John faces a statutory maximum penalty of life imprisonment when he is sentenced.  His sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer M. Rozzoni with assistance from Kristopher N. Houghton, Esq., a contractor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The case was brought pursuant to the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.

ALBUQUERQUE – James Charles Mollohan, 36, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon to 332 months (26.83 years) in prison followed by five years of supervised release for his conviction on four armed bank robbery charges and using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.  The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division, and Chief Gorden E. Eden, Jr., of the Albuquerque Police Department.

U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez said that Mollohan was prosecuted 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 for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

“The FBI has been taking dangerous bank robbers off the streets since the days of John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd.  Anybody who thinks he or she can become America's newest Public Enemy #1 better brush up on some history and find another line of work fast,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee.  “The FBI is proud of its partnership with the Albuquerque Police Department, the New Mexico Corrections Department Probation and Parole and the U.S. Attorney's Office.  Together, we are making a difference in our communities.”

“The Albuquerque Police Department is indebted to our federal law enforcement partners who recognized the extreme danger James Charles Mollohan was to our community,” said APD Chief Gorden Eden.  “As a result of this federal anti-violence initiative, Mollohan will no longer threaten our community.”

Mollohan was arrested on Feb. 1, 2013, on a criminal complaint charging him with the armed robbery of the New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union branch located at 3205 Coors Blvd. NW in Albuquerque.  On that day, Mollohan approached a bank teller, pointed a handgun at the teller, and demanding money.  As the teller opened the cash drawer in response to Mollohan’s demand, the teller surreptitiously activated an alarm before handing cash to Mollohan.  Mollohan was arrested in the vicinity of the bank shortly thereafter by an FBI agent and an APD officer who were in the area and responded to a radio transmission alerting them of the bank robbery.  Mollohan was in possession of a loaded semi-automatic handgun and a significant amount of cash when he was arrested.

On March 7, 2014, Mollohan pled guilty to a five-count felony information charging him with four counts of armed bank robbery and possession of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.  In entering his guilty plea, Mollohan admitted robbing at gunpoint the following Albuquerque-area banks:  the Bank of Albuquerque branch located at 3301 Coors Blvd. NW on Jan. 12, 2013; the New Mexico Bank and Trust branch located at 6201 Riverside Plaza Lane on Jan. 29, 2013; and New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union located at 3205 Coors Blvd. NW on Jan. 29, 2013 and again on Feb. 1, 2013.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI and the Albuquerque Police Department with assistance from the Probation and Parole Division of the New Mexico Corrections Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles L. Barth. 

ALBUQUERQUE – Christopher Alex Ruiz, 26, of Las Cruces, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.  The guilty plea was entered without the benefit of a plea agreement.

Ruiz is being prosecuted 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 for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

Ruiz was charged in March 2014, in a criminal complaint alleging that he unlawfully possessed a firearm and ammunition on Jan. 6, 2014, in Doña Ana County, N.M.  Ruiz subsequently was indicted on that same charge.  In Jan. 2014, Ruiz was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because he previously had been convicted of the following felony offenses:  aggravated burglary, forgery, unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon on school premises, larceny and of burglary of a vehicle on two occasions.

Ruiz has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  At sentencing, Ruiz faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in prison.  If adjudged to be a career criminal, Ruiz faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Fugitive Apprehension Unit of the New Mexico Corrections Department, the Las Cruces Police Department, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office and the New Mexico State University Police Department with assistance from the 3rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

ALBUQUERQUE – Preston Marmolejo, 32, a member and resident of Laguna Pueblo, pleaded guilty this morning to two counts of a four-count indictment under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  Under the terms of the plea agreement, Marmolejo will be sentenced to a prison term within the range of 100 to 120 months followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

Marmolejo was arrested on Dec. 2, 2013, on a criminal complaint charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon and assault on a federal officer.  He subsequently was charged in a four-count indictment with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault resulting in serious bodily injury, assaulting a federal officer, and using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

According to court filings, on Nov. 29, 2013, officers of the Pueblo of Laguna Police Department responded to a domestic violence call reporting that Marmolejo was assaulting his girlfriend, a Laguna Pueblo woman, with a knife. When the tribal officers arrived at Marmalejo’s residence, Marmolejo was holding a shotgun.  Marmolejo disregarded the tribal officers’ commands that he put the weapon down and instead fired towards the officers and injured an officer who is federally commissioned by the BIA.

During today’s proceedings, Marmolejo entered guilty pleas to Counts 1 and 3 of the indictment charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon and assaulting a federal officer, respectively.  In his plea agreement, Marmolejo admitted assaulting the female victim with a knife and the federal commissioned tribal police officer with a shotgun.

Marmolejo is in federal custody and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI, the Laguna Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services, and the Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine Y. Ramirez. 

The case was brought pursuant to the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.

ALBUQUERQUE – Jasonn Gonzales, 41, an accountant from Velarde, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning to conspiracy, mail fraud and aggravated identity theft charges arising out of a scheme to defraud the federal and state unemployment insurance system.  The guilty plea was entered without the benefit of a plea agreement.

Gonzales and his co-defendant, Gerald Archuleta, 43, of Ojo Caliente, N.M., were charged in a six-count indictment that was filed on March 26, 2014.  Count 1 charged the two men with conspiracy to commit mail fraud in furtherance of a scheme to defraud the federal and state Unemployment Insurance System in New Mexico, Texas and Colorado of money by false and fraudulent pretenses.  Counts 2 through 5 of the indictment charged the men with mail fraud, and Count 6 charges Gonzales alone with aggravated identity theft.

According to the indictment, the federal and state Unemployment Insurance System seeks to lessen the effects of unemployment through payments made to claimants (laid-off workers) on a weekly basis while the claimants seek employment.  The unemployment insurance program is administered on behalf of the federal government by state workforce agencies in each state.  The indictment alleges that between 2009 and 2012, Gonzales and Archuleta schemed to defraud the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, the Texas Workforce Commission and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment of more than $1,356,000 by making false and fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits in the names of real people.

The indictment alleges that Gonzales and Archuleta perpetuated their unlawful scheme by fraudulently registering numerous non-existent companies with the three state workforce agencies and filing false quarterly reports for the fictitious companies which identified claimed employees.  The two men allegedly provided the names, dates of birth and social security numbers of the claimed employees to the state agencies without the knowledge or authorization of the claimed employees, who were real people.  Gonzales and Archuleta then allegedly made false and fraudulent claims for unemployment benefit claims on behalf of the claimed employees of the fictitious companies.  The two men allegedly opened post office boxes in New Mexico, Texas and Colorado, which they provided to the three state workforce agencies as mailing addresses for the claimed employees.  The state agencies mailed debit cards to the claimed employees at the post office boxes and the defendants allegedly used the debit cards to withdraw the fraudulently obtained benefits.  During the life of the conspiracy, Gonzales and Archuleta allegedly submitted fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits in the aggregate amount of $1,356,461, and defrauded the three state workforce agencies of approximately $801,848, in total. 

The indictment includes forfeiture provisions seeking a money judgment in the amount of $801,848 as well as the forfeiture of assets and property which constitute or are derived from proceeds traceable to the criminal activity alleged in the indictment.

During today’s proceedings, Gonzales pled guilty to all six counts of the indictment.  Gonzales also admitted to the forfeiture provisions of the indictment and to the entry of an $801,848 money judgment against him.  At sentencing, Gonzales faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on the conspiracy charge and each of the five mail fraud charges.  He also will be sentenced to a two-year mandatory prison sentence to be served consecutive to any sentence imposed on the conspiracy and mail fraud charges.  Gonzales’ sentencing date has yet to be scheduled. 

Archuleta has entered a not guilty plea to the indictment.  Charges in indictments are merely accusations and Archuleta is presumed innocent unless found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Frauds Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara C. Neda.