ALBUQUERQUE - Robert Lopez, 27, of Roswell, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning in Las Cruces federal court to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Lopez entered his guilty plea without the benefit of a plea agreement.
Lopez was arrested in June 2013, based on a criminal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and subsequently was indicted on that same charge. The indictment charged Lopez with unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition in Chaves County, N.M., on July 19, 2012. At the time, Lopez was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of a felony offense, possession of methamphetamine, in the 5th Judicial District Court for the State of New Mexico.
Court filings reflect that on July 19, 2012, Lopez assaulted a Chaves County Sheriff’s deputy while the deputy was attempting to execute a warrant for Lopez’s arrest. Lopez initially fled from the deputy and then assumed a fighting stance, hitting the deputy in the head and biting the deputy’s right ear. After the deputy subdued and arrested Lopez, Lopez told the deputy that he had a firearm in his vehicle. The Chaves County Sheriff’s Office then obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and recovered a pistol loaded with ten rounds.
During today’s proceedings, Lopez pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that he unlawfully possessed a firearm and ammunition on July 19, 2012. At his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled, Lopez faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.
This case was investigated by the Roswell office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Chaves County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
