ALBUQUERQUE -Joshua Metts, 36, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 51 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for unlawfully possessing a firearm.
Metts was charged with violating the Hobbs Act and federal firearms laws in an indictment filed in April 2015. In June 2016, a superseding indictment was filed that charged Metts with violating the Hobbs Act on Sept. 12, 2014, by robbing a commercial business in Albuquerque, and with being a felon in possession of a firearm on Oct. 2, 2014. According to the indictment, Metts was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his prior felony convictions for aggravated fleeing of a law enforcement officer and trafficking a controlled substance.
Metts was arrested on the federal charges in June 2015, after he was transferred to federal custody from state custody where he was detained on related state charges. The state charges later were dismissed in favor of federal prosecution. In July 2016, the court severed the Hobbs Act charge from the felon in possession charge for the purposes of trial.
A federal jury found Metts guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm after a two-day trial on Oct. 12, 2016. The evidence at trial established that APD officers arrested Metts on an outstanding state warrant on Oct. 2, 2014. After arresting Metts, the officers found a firearm in Metts’ vehicle; the firearm was wedged between the driver’s door and the driver’s seat. After Metts was convicted on the felon in possession charge, the U.S. Attorney’s Office moved to dismiss the Hobbs Act charge.
The case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of ATF and APD with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel A. Hurtado and Paul Mysliwiec prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
