ALBUQUERQUE - Eddie J. Vallejos, 55, of Roswell, N.M., entered a guilty plea this morning in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to a misdemeanor assault on a federal officer charge.
Vallejos was arrested in June 2013, on a criminal complaint alleging that he assaulted an officer of the Federal Protective Service who was on duty at the Joe Skeen Federal Building and U.S. Court House in Roswell. Vallejos subsequently was indicted and charged with a misdemeanor assault on a federal officer charge.
According to the criminal complaint, Vallejos assaulted the officer on June 4, 2013, after the officer sought to question Vallejos about a bag which appeared to contain illegal drugs that fell from Vallejos’ pocket as he emptied his pockets before walking through the security gate at the courthouse. While attempting to flee from the officer, Vallejos physically assaulted the officer by elbowing him in the chest and striking the officer with his knee so that the two men fell down. Vallejos then bit the officer’s hand and drew blood.
During today’s proceedings, Vallejos pled guilty to the indictment. Vallejos has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. At sentencing, Vallejos faces a statutory maximum penalty of a year in prison.
The case was investigated by the Federal Protective Service of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis A. Martinez of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
