ALBUQUERQUE - Charlene Baca, 44, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today to time-served (189 days in custody) followed by three years of supervised release for her conviction for theft from an Indian gaming establishment.
Baca was arrested on Oct. 5, 2013, on a criminal complaint charging her with threatening a cashier and attempting to rob the Route 66 Casino located on Laguna Pueblo in Cibola County, N.M. According to the complaint, Baca told the cashier that she had a bomb in the casino and demanded money.
On Sept. 17, 2014, Baca entered a guilty plea to a felony information and admitted that she attempted to steal money belonging to the Route 66 Casino on Oct. 5, 2013, by suggesting to the cashier that there was a destructive device in the Casino that would explode in seconds and that she could remotely deploy the bomb if the cashier did not give her money. Baca was arrested by officers of the Pueblo of Laguna Trial Police Department shortly thereafter. No explosive device was found during the course of the investigation.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI, the Laguna/Acoma Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Programs, the Pueblo of Laguna Pueblo Tribal Police Department, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, the New Mexico State Police and the Albuquerque Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Niki Tapia-Brito.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
