Reynaldo Marquez, Discharging Firearm During 7-Eleven Heist, NM 2024

Reynaldo Marquez, 26, of Albuquerque, N.M., is headed to federal prison for a decade after opening fire during a daylight heist at a 7-Eleven convenience store. Marquez was sentenced today to 120 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for discharging a firearm during a crime of violence — a violent act that terrorized bystanders and escalated a robbery into a federal offense.

The gunfire erupted during the robbery of a 7-Eleven in Bernalillo County on Dec. 7, 2014, an act that added Marquez to a sprawling federal indictment targeting a crew of Albuquerque gunmen. Originally filed on Jan. 21, 2015, the five-count indictment was later superseded on May 28, 2015, adding Marquez as a defendant and two new charges tied to the convenience store stickup. He was specifically charged with discharging a firearm during the robbery, a federal offense that carries a mandatory minimum of ten years.

The superseding indictment also recharged six other men — Raymond Castillo, 27, Daniel Maestas, 36, Johnny Ramirez, 33, Frank Gallegos, 31, Reyes Lujan, 27, and Henry Lujan, 23 — in connection with an earlier armed robbery of a Wal-Mart in Bernalillo County on Oct. 29, 2014. That heist targeted interstate commerce, and the indictment alleged Castillo fired a weapon during the robbery, while Maestas carried a firearm and the others aided and abetted its use.

Marquez admitted his role on Sept. 1, 2016, when he pled guilty to Count 7 of the superseding indictment: discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. His plea confirmed he pulled the trigger during the Dec. 7, 2014, 7-Eleven robbery, a decision that sealed his fate under strict federal sentencing laws. No plea deal softened the blow — 120 months was the floor.

His co-defendants have already faced justice. Reyes Lujan was sentenced on March 8, 2016, to 71 months in prison. Gallegos followed on Sept. 8, 2016, with the same 71-month term, and Ramirez was hit with identical time on Oct. 6, 2016. The remaining three — Castillo, Maestas, and Henry Lujan — remain in custody awaiting sentencing.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Albuquerque Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Norman Cairns and Samuel A. Hurtado. It falls under a federal anti-violence push targeting “the worst of the worst” — repeat and armed offenders in New Mexico, where violent crime rates exceed the national average. This crackdown aims to lock up dangerous criminals for as long as possible, and Marquez’s decade-long sentence sends a clear message: pull the trigger during a robbery, and the feds will come for you.

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