Felon from San Juan County Pleads Guilty to Violating Federal Firearms Laws

ALBUQUERQUE – Romualdo Munoz, 37, of Bloomfield, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to violating the federal firearms laws by being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.

Munoz was arrested in Jan. 2018, on an indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition on May 30, 2017, in San Juan County, N.M.  According to the indictment, Munoz was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his prior felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance, receiving stolen property, aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer, and being a felon in possession of a firearm or destructive device.

During today’s proceedings, Munoz pled guilty to the indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.  In entering the guilty plea, Munoz admitted that on May 30, 2017, law enforcement officers found a firearm and multiple rounds of ammunition inside Munoz’s vehicle during a consensual search.  Munoz further admitted that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his status as a convicted felon.

At sentencing, Munoz faces a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison.  He remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the HIDTA Region II Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter J. Eicker is prosecuting the case.

The HIDTA Region II Task Force is comprised of officers and investigators from the Farmington Police Department, San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, Bloomfield Police Department and Aztec Police Department, and is part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program was created by Congress with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.  HIDTA is a program of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which provides assistance to federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug-trafficking regions of the United States and seeks to reduce drug trafficking and production by facilitating coordinated law enforcement activities and information sharing.