Jeremiah Jackson Sentenced to Life Imprisonment

ALBUQUERQUE—This morning a U.S. District Judge sentenced Jeremiah Jackson, 34, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to two terms of life imprisonment, to be served concurrently, for killing two women while attempting to avoid apprehension in the aftermath of a bank robbery, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales and Carol K.O. Lee, Special Agent in Charge of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI.

Jackson was arrested on April 6, 2010, shortly after robbing a bank and immediately after a collision that took the lives of Kimberly Aragon-Nunez, a 34-year-old mother of three, and Janice Flores, a 28-year-old mother of two. On May 11, 2010, Jackson was indicted and charged with robbing the New Mexico Bank and Trust branch located at 3002 Louisiana NE in Albuquerque (Bank) on April 6, 2010, and killing Mrs. Aragon-Nunez and Mrs. Flores while attempting to avoid apprehension in the aftermath of the bank robbery.

On August 24, 2011, a federal jury found Jackson guilty of bank robbery and killing the two women while attempting to avoid apprehension in the aftermath of the bank robbery, after a four-day trial. The evidence at trial established that Jackson robbed the Bank, which is located at the corner of Louisiana and Candelaria NE, at approximately 10:00 a.m. on April 6, 2010, by presenting two bank tellers with a note demanding money. After obtaining approximately $2,400 in cash from the two frightened bank tellers, Jackson fled from the Bank in a van he had borrowed earlier in the day. As he fled, the Bank manager was able to note the van’s license plate number and get a description of the vehicle.

An officer of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) soon located Jackson at a convenience store at the corner of Carlisle and Comanche NE using a description of the bank robber and the make and license plate number of the van. However, before the officer could establish a perimeter to box Jackson in, Jackson got back into the van and left the convenience store parking lot. Jackson quickly realized that an officer was following him. When the officer turned on her cruiser’s lights and siren, Jackson did not pull over and surrender but instead tried to evade arrest. Jackson drove south on Carlisle and then west on Interstate 40 at a high rate of speed while the officer followed and called out Jackson’s location over her police radio.

The officer continued to follow Jackson as he exited Interstate 40 and drove down Coors Blvd. SW, but lost sight of him as he sped along toward the intersection of Coors Blvd. and Quail SW. Several witnesses testified about watching Jackson attempt to turn the corner at a high rate of speed, seeing the van drift sideways and then slam into a concrete median. As it struck the median, the van went airborne across an entire lane of traffic before landing on the vehicle occupied by Ms. Aragon-Nunez and Ms. Flores, instantaneously causing their deaths. Instead of attempting to aid his victims or seeking assistance for them, Jackson fled from the scene of the fatal collision. Jackson was apprehended shortly thereafter and made a detailed confession that was presented as part of the evidence against him.

At the sentencing hearing, several members of the Aragon-Nunez and Flores families, including parents, children, and siblings of the deceased, addressed the court and spoke about the impact that Jackson’s crimes had on their lives. Several family members told the judge that they already had been sentenced to a life without their loved ones, and asked the judge to consider that fact in imposing sentence on Jackson.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the APD and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Presiliano Torrez and Raul Torrez.

Navajo Man from Two Grey Hills Pleads Guilty to Federal Assault Charge

ALBUQUERQUE—This morning, Travis Cohoe, 43, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Two Grey Hills, New Mexico, pled guilty to a federal assault charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Cohoe will be sentenced to a prison term of a year and a day. Cohoe remains on conditions of release pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

Cohoe was indicted on June 7, 2011, and was charged with (1) assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and (2) assault with a dangerous weapon. According to the indictment, Cohoe used an automobile to assault a man on April 13, 2010.

This morning, Cohoe pled guilty to count one of the indictment, the assault resulting in serious bodily injury charge. In his plea agreement, Cohoe admitted that on April 13, 2010, he ran over a man with his vehicle. Cohoe stated that, while he was drinking with the victim at Bennett’s Peak, which is within the Navajo Indian Reservation, the two men began to argue and, during the course of the argument, Cohoe ran over the victim with his vehicle. The victim suffered a broken femur, a broken wrist, broken facial bones, and various abrasions as a result of the assault.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, count two of the indictment will be dismissed after Cohoe is sentenced.

The case was investigated by the Farmington Office of the FBI and the Shiprock Division of the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack E. Burkhead.

Albuquerque Gang Member to Serve 40 Years in Prison for Federal Firearms and Drug Trafficking Conviction

Albuquerque – This morning, a federal judge in Santa Fe, N.M., sentenced Dominic Saavedra, 29, of Albuquerque, to a 40-year term of imprisonment for his conviction on firearms and drug trafficking charges. Saavedra, an admitted member of the Southside Locos Gang, will be on supervised release for three years after he completes his prison sentence.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that the case against Saavedra and his co-defendant, Donald Lee Howard, 43, was brought as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution under the federal firearms and narcotics laws. Under the initiative, a state-wide, multi-agency effort denominated as the New Mexico Federal Gang Task Force, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from our communities for as long as possible.

Saavedra and Howard were indicted on July 27, 2011, and charged with illegally possessing firearms and ammunition in Bernalillo County on May 20, 2011. Saavedra also was charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute and using and carrying a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking crime on that same day. On May 20, 2011, Saavedra and Howard were prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because each previously had been convicted of several felony offenses.

On April 3, 2012, a federal jury found Saavedra and Howard, 42, guilty of being felons in possession of firearms and ammunition after a two-day trial. The jury also found Saavedra guilty of a possession of heroin with intent to distribute charge and using and carrying a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking crime.

During today's sentencing hearing, Saavedra was sentenced to a mandatory term of 15-years of imprisonment for his felon in possession of a firearm conviction under the Armed Career Criminal Act. Saavedra’s sentence on the heroin trafficking conviction will be served concurrently with the 15-year sentence. Saavedra also was sentenced to a mandatory 25-year term of imprisonment for carrying a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking crime, an enhanced sentenced based on his prior conviction for a similar offense. By statute, the 25-year sentence must be served consecutive to Saavedra’s sentence on the other two counts of convictions, for a total sentence of 40-years of imprisonment.

Howard faces a mandatory minimum 15 years of imprisonment for his felon in possession of a firearm conviction under the Armed Career Criminal Act when he is sentenced. Howard remains in federal custody pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Louis E. Valencia and David M. Walsh.

Las Cruces Man Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Killing a Federal Witness

LAS CRUCES—Earlier today a federal judge in Las Cruces, New Mexico, sentenced Paul Othello Smalls, 44, of Las Cruces, to life imprisonment for killing a man who was aiding a federal investigation and four other related offenses, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales.

Smalls and two co-defendants, Glenn Dell Cook, 36, of Rialto, California, and Walter Melgar-Diaz, 29, a Mexican national, were indicted on November 6, 2006, and charged with (1) conspiracy to retaliate against a witness or informant; (2) retaliation against a witnesses or informant; (3) conspiracy to tamper with a witness or informant; (4) tampering with a witness or informant; and (5) killing a person aiding a federal investigation.

The indictment alleged that, in late December 2004, Smalls and his co-defendants conspired to kill Phillip Thomas Gantz, 32, of Roswell, New Mexico, to retaliate against Gantz for providing information to federal law enforcement about drug trafficking in the Roswell area. It further alleged that all four men were housed in a four-person cell in the medical unit of the Dona Ana County Detention Center (“jail”) at the time of the offenses charged, and that, in or about the early morning hours of on December 30, 2004, Smalls and his co-defendants killed Gantz for assisting in a federal investigation.

Although trial of the case was delayed by protracted motions hearings and appellate proceedings, on November 17, 2011, a jury convicted Smalls of all charges in the indictment. The evidence at trial established, among other things, that on December 30, 2004, Smalls and his co-defendants killed Gantz at the jail by strangling him because he was a “snitch.” Smalls, who had been employed as a guard at the jail in 2002 and 2003, devised a scheme to quietly suffocate Gantz so that it would appear as if he had died of natural causes—an asthma attack—so that no one would suspect that he had been murdered and then enlisted his co-defendants to assist him in carrying out his scheme. The responding medical investigator and jail officials initially believed that Gantz had died of natural causes. The autopsy revealed the cause of death as strangulation. A federal investigation into Gantz’s death was initiated after Cook told another inmate about the murder and admitted that he, Smalls, and Melgar-Diaz killed Gantz because he was a “snitch.” The trial evidence included the results of substantial investigative efforts by the FBI and pertinent video surveillance from the jail.

Cook and Melgar-Diaz remain in federal custody pending their sentencing hearings, which have yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Roswell Resident Agency of the FBI and the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard C. Williams and Luis A. Martinez.

Albuquerque Man Sentenced to Prison for Robbing New Mexico Bank & Trust in March 2012

ALBUQUERQUE—Yesterday in federal court, Jeffrey Allen Stablein, 24, of Albuquerque, was sentenced to a 51-month term of imprisonment for his bank robbery conviction. Stablein will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence. Stablein also was ordered to pay full restitution to the victim bank.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that, on May 5, 2012, Stablein pled guilty to robbing the New Mexico Bank & Trust branch located at 3002 Louisiana Blvd. NE on March 5, 2012. In entering his guilty plea, Stablein admitted that he walked into the bank, brandished a dangerous weapon, and demanded money from two bank tellers.

Court records reflect that after Stablein obtained cash from the bank tellers, he fled the bank on foot. Officers apprehended Stablein shortly thereafter.

The case was investigated by FBI and the Albuquerque Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Raul Torrez.