Courts

FBI: Smith Lake Man Pleads Guilty To Second Degree Murder … Faces Life In Prison

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE — Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, have announced that Josiah Alan Smith, 29, of Smith Lake and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, pled guilty in Federal Court to second degree murder.

Smith will remain in custody pending sentencing which has not been scheduled.

According to court documents May 17, 2021, Smith shot and killed the victim, identified as John Doe, at a residence near Church Rock, New Mexico, on the Read More

FBI: Tsayatoh Man Pleads Guilty To Being A Felon In Possession Of Firearms & Ammo … Faces 10 Years In Prison

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE — Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, have announced that Rumaldo Peshlakai pled guilty to being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.

Peshlakai, 43, of Tsayatoh, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

According to court documents, Sept. 23, 2021, Peshlakai and Jane Doe were involved in a domestic dispute at a residence in Tsayatoh. Read More

Court Orders Mewbourne Oil Company To Pay $5.5 Million & Reduce Unlawful Air Pollution From Oil & Gas Wells In New Mexico & Texas

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Cabinet Secretary James Kenney

NMED News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mewbourne Oil Company has agreed to pay a $5.5 million penalty and to spend at least $4.6 million for projects to ensure 422 of its oil and gas battery pads in New Mexico and Texas comply with state and federal clean air regulations. 

These terms are in settlement of claims of unlawful operations alleged in a civil complaint filed today under the federal Clean Air Act and New Mexico state law. Mewbourne’s actions taken pursuant to the deal will eliminate more than 11,000 tons of harmful pollutants from the air each year.

“Good air quality Read More

Former Los Lunas High School Coach Gets 23 Years For Coercion And Enticement, Production Of Child Pornography

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, announced today that Johnathon Bindues was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

A federal jury convicted Bindues, 32, of Los Lunas, on May 4, 2023 of coercion and enticement of a minor and production of child pornography.

According to the evidence at trial and other publicly available court records, Bindues used his former position at Los Lunas High School as the coach for the girls’ basketball Read More

Safe Surrender In Aztec For New Mexicans With Warrants

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AOC Director Artie Pepin

AOC News:

AZTEC — People with outstanding bench warrants from any magistrate court in New Mexico can safely surrender at the Aztec Magistrate Court, 200 Gossett Dr., Aztec, NM 3-7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11 and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12.

“Statewide, there are 82,000 outstanding warrants in magistrate courts,” Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) Director Artie Pepin said. “Our goal is always to help anyone who wants to come back into compliance with the courts and the San Juan Safe Surrender event will make it a little easier for people to do that.”

The safe surrender Read More

FBI: Navajo Man Charged With Murder In Shiprock

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE — Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced today that Kirtie Cohoe made an initial appearance in federal court on a criminal complaint charging him with murder.

Cohoe, 46, of Shiprock, will remain in custody pending a preliminary and detention hearing scheduled for Aug. 4, 2023.

According to the criminal complaint, Cohoe was staying at the home of a relative in Shiprock, New Mexico. The victim, John Doe, arrived at the home on the morning of July Read More

FBI: Dulce Woman Gets 5 Years For Voluntary Manslaughter

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced today that Laurice Montoya was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Montoya, 38, of Dulce, and a registered member of Jicarilla Apache Indian Tribe, pled guilty on May 4, 2023, to voluntary manslaughter.

According to court documents, on Jan. 19, 2022, Montoya and the victim, John Doe, got into an argument in her home on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. During the argument, Montoya hit Doe on the head two times Read More

Not Invisible Act Commission Concludes Public Hearings

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DOI News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of the continued work by the Departments of the Interior and Justice to implement the Not Invisible Act and address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) and Human Trafficking crises, the Not Invisible Act Commission this week concluded its 8th and final public hearing.

The Commission held seven public hearings across the country, as well as a two-day national virtual hearing, to hear directly from the public in some of the communities most affected by these crises. These hearings provided a forum for the Commission’s subcommittees to hear Read More

Heinrich, Luján, Leger Fernández: Over $1.5M Funding To Fight Opioid Epidemic, Substance Abuse In New Mexico

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From the Office of U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich:

SANTA FE – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) announced $1,524,625 in federal funding for the Santa Fe Recovery Center, Inc. from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to combat the opioid epidemic and substance abuse in communities across New Mexico.

The funding will go toward recovery addiction treatment, recovery services, and overdose prevention. It will also expand the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Access program, which the delegation passed Read More

FBI: Carlsbad Woman Gets 30 Years For Making Child Porn

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, announced today that Rachel Michelle Crutcher was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Crutcher, 38, of Carlsbad, pled guilty Feb. 21 to production of a visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

According to court documents, on Nov. 8, 2022, a Task Force Officer (TFO) working for the Child Exploitation and Human trafficking Task Force was monitoring a fetish Read More