Federal Grand Jury Returns Indictment Charging Larry Mitchell Hopkins With Firearms Charge

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal grand jury sitting in Albuquerque, N.M., has returned an indictment charging Larry Mitchell Hopkins, 69, of Flora Vista, N.M., with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, announced New Mexico U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson and Special Agent in Charge James C. Langenberg of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division.

            Hopkins, who is also known as Johnny Horton, Jr., is scheduled for arraignment on the indictment at 9:30 a.m. on April 29, 2019, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen B. Molzen in the Rio Grande courtroom of the federal courthouse in Albuquerque.  Hopkins also is scheduled for a detention hearing at the same time.

The indictment charges Hopkins with knowingly possessing firearms and ammunition in San Juan County, N.M., in Nov. 2017, despite having been convicted of at least one of the following felony crimes, which were punishable by at least a year of imprisonment:  being a felon in possession of a firearm; impersonating a peace officer; and possession of a loaded firearm by a convicted felon.

Hopkins has been in custody since he was arrested by the FBI, with assistance from the Sunland Park Police Department, on April 20, 2019, in Sunland Park, N.M.

If convicted on the charge in the indictment, Hopkins faces a maximum statutory penalty of ten years of imprisonment.  Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

This case was investigated by the Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI with assistance from the Las Cruces Resident Agency of the FBI.  The Sunland Park (N.M.) Police Department assisted in the arrest operation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney George C. Kraehe is prosecuting the case.