Courts

Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has Died

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Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg March 15, 1933 – Sept. 18, 2020. Courtesy/biography.com

U.S. SUPREME COURT News:

Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died this evening surrounded by her family at her home in Washington, D.C., due to complications of metastatic pancreas cancer. She was 87 years old.

Justice Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Clinton in 1993. She was the second woman appointed to the Court and served more than 27 years.

She is survived by her two children: Jane Carol Ginsburg (George Spera) and James Steven Ginsburg (Patrice Michaels), Read More

Sirphey To Take ‘Stop Work Order’ Case To District Court

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Prashant Jain

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

Sirphey, LLC Owner Prashant Jain intends to take his case against Los Alamos County to First Judicial District Court.

The County placed a stop work order on Jain’s business, UnQuarked, in November at 813 Central Ave.

The decision to take the case to court was made after Los Alamos County Council voted 4-0 Sept. 8 to sustain the Board of Appeals motion that Sirphey representatives, Jain and his Communication Director Cortni Nucklos, failed to prove that the stop work order was “unlawful, arbitrary and capricious”. Read More

AG: Former Attorney Matthew O’Neill Going To Prison

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From the Office of the Attorney General:

ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas announced today that Bernalillo County District Court Judge Daniel Gallegos sentenced Matthew O’Neill, to three years at the Department of Corrections for possessing and manufacturing child pornography.

Prosecutors read the victims’ sentencing statements to the court, which detailed how the continued propagation of the video and photographic depictions of them being sexually abused has impacted their lives and continues to haunt them.

“No one should exploit and abuse children, and Read More

FBI Offering $10K For Information On Dakota Don Briscoe

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Convicted felon Dakota Don Briscoe is on the lam

FBI News:

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Dakota Don Briscoe, wanted for a carjacking and attempted carjacking Sept. 7 in Albuquerque.

This case is being investigated by the FBI in conjunction with the Albuquerque Police Department as part of the Department of Justice’s Operation Legend, a coordinated federal and local law enforcement initiative to fight gun and dangerous crime.

Shortly before the attempted carjacking and successful carjacking, Briscoe was observed walking Read More

Human Trafficking: How Does New Mexico Measure Up?

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THTI News:

New Mexico ranks 23rd in the United States in 2019 for the number of active criminal human trafficking cases making their way through federal courts.

The state had eight active criminal cases. Federal prosecutors charged two new criminal cases, ranking New Mexico 22nd in the United States for the number of new criminal human trafficking cases.

In 2019, federal courts convicted two defendants in criminal human trafficking cases, ranking New Mexico 35th in the nation for the number of defendants convicted.

Federal courts ordered one out of one convicted defendants to pay restitution Read More

New Mexico Environment Department Reaches Settlement With Cannon Air Force Base Over Alleged Permit Violations

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The entrance to Cannon Air Force Base in Curry County. Courtesy/www.milbases.com

NMED News:

SANTA FE — The state Water Quality Control Commission approved a settlement agreement Tuesday between the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) and Cannon Air Force Base for alleged violations of state environmental groundwater permitting laws.

The agreement addresses an administrative compliance order issued by NMED earlier this year due to Cannon discharging without a groundwater permit and failing to provide NMED with required information about PFAS – a class of manmade chemical with Read More

FBI: Chase Smothermon Gets 45 Years For Heinous Crimes

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE — A federal judge sentenced Chase Smothermon, 32, of Albuquerque to 45 years in prison for abducting and assaulting two men, one of whom was tortured, killed and mutilated.

Smothermon suspected the victims of stealing drugs and money from his home.

 Smothermon pleaded guilty Jan. 24 in Federal Court in Santa Fe. An indictment charged Smothermon, and two other residents of Albuquerque, Mariah Ferry, 22, and Jose Torrez, 48, with kidnapping, kidnapping resulting in death, and conspiracy to kidnap. 

Smothermon, Ferry, Torrez and other co-conspirators plotted to retaliate Read More

FBI Seeks Edward Ray Loretto Wanted On Federal Charges

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Edward Ray Loretto is on the lam – report his whereabouts at tips.fbi.gov.

FBI News:

A federal arrest warrant has been issued for a Jemez Pueblo man who allegedly raped a 15-year-old girl.

The FBI and Pueblo of Jemez Police Department are looking for Edward Ray Loretto, 39. Loretto has previously resided in Jemez Pueblo and Albuquerque.

A federal arrest warrant was issued Aug. 17 in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, after Loretto was charged with offenses committed in Indian Country, aggravated sexual abuse of a child, and sexual abuse of a minor.

Loretto is Read More

FBI: Purveyors Of Fraudulent Native American-style Goods And Products Sentenced In Federal Court In Albuquerque

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE – Jawad Khalaf, 72, of Albuquerque, Nashat Khalaf, 73, of Gallup; Sterling Islands, Inc.; a wholesale jewelry business in Albuquerque and Al-Zuni Global Jewelry, Inc., a wholesale jewelry business in Gallup, were sentenced Thursday in Federal Court in Albuquerque,

In April, the defendants pled guilty to misrepresentation of Indian-produced goods and services in an amount greater than $1,000 as part of a scheme to import Native American-style jewelry from the Philippines and sell it to customers in the United States as authentic. 

Another defendant, Taha Shawar, Read More

Case Of Albuquerque Felon Suspected Of Possession Of Firearm Under Investigation As Part Of Operation Legend

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE – Eduardo “Lalo” Aguilar, 31, of Albuquerque made an initial appearance Aug. 20 on gun charges in federal court before a detention hearing Aug. 24, at which the Court concluded that he must be detained pending trial.

Aguilar has been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Crime Task Force (VCTF), working in conjunction with investigators from the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office, arrested Aguilar Aug. 13.

According to a criminal complaint, while executing a warrant Read More