Courts

House Bill 445 Gives Law Enforcement More Tools To Combat Human Trafficking In New Mexico

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Mark Probasco
Deputy Director of Special Prosecutions
New Mexico Office of the Attorney General

By ROBERT NOTT
The Santa Fe New Mexican

After hearing sometimes raw testimony from victims of human trafficking, members of the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee unanimously voted Wednesday in support of a bill that would enact tougher penalties for the crime.

House Bill 445 also would broaden the definition of human trafficking and require those convicted of the crime to register as sex offenders in the state.

In cases in which the trafficking victim is an undercover cop, the bill would Read More

Senate Backs Bill To End Life Without Parole For Juveniles

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SB 64 Lead Sponsor Sen. , D-Albuquerque

By DANIEL J. CHACÓN
The Santa Fe New Mexican

After faltering last year amid pushback from district attorneys, a revised bill that would end life without parole as a sentencing option for youthful offenders passed the Senate with bipartisan support Wednesday.

“When children cause harm in our community, yes, we must hold them accountable. But we must hold them accountable in ways that leave room for their potential to experience transformation, positive transformation,” said Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, D-Albuquerque, the lead sponsor of Senate Read More

Heinrich, Luján Announce Senate Confirmation Of Matthew L. Garcia For U.S. District Judge For New Mexico

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Newly confirmed U.S. District Judge For NM Matthew L. Garcia

U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) voted Tuesday to confirm Matthew L. Garcia of Albuquerque to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the District of New Mexico.

The senators recommended that President Joe Biden nominate Garcia for this seat, which is based in Albuquerque. The Senate voted to confirm Garcia by a final vote of 53 to 46.

Sens. Heinrich and Luján strongly recommended Garcia to join the District Court of New Mexico and welcomed President Joe Biden’s nomination. Read More

Honorable Jennifer M. Rozzoni Appointed United States Magistrate Judge For District Of New Mexico

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COURT News:

ALBUQUERQUE — The United States District Court announces the appointment of Jennifer M. Rozzoni as the District’s newest United States Magistrate Judge in Albuquerque.

Judge Rozzoni joins the Court after more than 14 years as an Assistant United States Attorney in Albuquerque, where she prosecuted a vast array of cases including violent crimes, narcotics conspiracies and other organized crimes, and appeals.

Since February 2021, she has been on remote detail to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia where she has assisted in managing and prosecuting the multitude Read More

AG Advocates For Bill To Fix Loophole In Murder Cases

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Attorney General Raúl Torrez

By DANIEL J. CHACÓN
The Santa Fe New Mexican

Liz Frank felt little relief when the man accused of killing her son in a botched armed robbery was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 23½ years in prison.

Although it ended the ordeal of a jury trial, she said Matthew Chavez’s conviction didn’t change the fact she would never see her son, U.S. Army veteran Tyler Lackey, alive again.

“All I felt was relief that it was over and that [Chavez] was going to be behind bars where he couldn’t torture anybody else’s family,” Frank recalled.

Her relief was short-lived. Read More

FBI: Former Prisoner Transport Officer Gets 24 Months In Prison For Violating Civil Rights Of Detainees In His Custody

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE — Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced today that Anthony Buntyn was sentenced to 24 months in prison.

A federal jury convicted Buntyn, 55, a former prisoner transport officer, Sept. 28, 2022, of willfully violating the Due Process rights of the detainees in his custody.

According to court documents and the evidence introduced at trial, Buntyn was a prisoner transport officer employed by Prisoner Transportation Services of America (PTS), a company hired by local jails and prisons throughout the country to transport Read More

Legislative Analysis: Pretrial Detention Bill Could Cost Millions

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Senate Bill 123 Co-sponser Rep. Meredith Dixon

By PHAEDRA HAYWOOD
Los Alamos

A bill backed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham that calls for people accused of certain violent crimes to remain jailed without bond until their trial could cost the state up to $15.3 million a year, a legislative analysis said.

The fiscal impact report by the Legislative Finance Committee also cites concerns about whether Senate Bill 123 might violate the New Mexico Constitution.

“If SB123 is enacted as proposed, litigation regarding its constitutionality should be expected,” legislative analysts wrote in the report. Read More

FBI: Former New Mexico Taxation & Revenue Employee Sentenced For Wire Fraud, Identity Theft, Money Laundering

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FBI News:

          • Martinez fraudulently directed $1,216,205 into accounts in his control.

ALBUQUERQUE — Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, has announced that George Martinez was sentenced to 94 months in prison.

Martinez, 46, of Albuquerque, pleaded guilty July 11, 2022, to 42 counts each of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and six counts of money laundering. The Court ordered Martinez to pay $1,216,205 in restitution and issued a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $689,797.

From 2009 through July 16, 2018, Martinez used his position as Read More

CASA To Host Networking Event For Young Professionals

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By CATHERINE E. TAYLOR, J.D.
Los Alamos Magistrate Judge

Often times we hear news stories about children in our foster care system that make us shudder. We wonder how does this happen? What can be done? How can I help?

While not everyone is in a position to be a foster parent, almost any one of us can be a voice for children in the foster care system.

CASA—Court Appointed Special Advocate—is a national program operating in every state which trains volunteers to be the voice for a child caught up in the court system through no fault of their own. These children are too often the innocent victims of abuse Read More

FBI: Pediatric Surgeon Sentenced To Over 17 Years In Prison For Possession, Distribution Of Child Pornography

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FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE, — Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced that Guy Rosenschein was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison.

Rosenschein, 68, of Albuquerque, pleaded guilty in federal court Oct. 15 to seven counts of distribution of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and one count of possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Rosenschein first came to the attention of law enforcement in 2016 following two CyberTipline Reports submitted to the National Center for Read More