Tag: New Mexico
Jorge Pinon Armendariz, Laser Pointer Attack, New Mexico 2025
⏱ 2 min read Jorge Pinon Armendariz, 48, aimed a green laser pointer at a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office helicopter over Albuquerque on October 7, 2025, striking the cockpit more than a dozen times and hitting the pilot in the eyes. The helicopter was flying over the city when the attack occurred. Armendariz continued to…
Curley Nakai Jr., Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, New Mexico 2024
⏱ 2 min read Curley Nakai Jr., a 25-year-old Arizona man and enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, assaulted a woman with a rifle in a New Mexico parking lot on August 24, 2024. The incident occurred after the woman, Jane Doe 2, tried to intervene in a suspected domestic violence incident involving Nakai and…
Lonnie Begaye, Assault by Strangulation, New Mexico 2026
⏱ 2 min read
Anthony Sandoval, Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, New Mexico 2024
Little Water Man Sentenced for 2024 Shooting ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – A Little Water man was sentenced to 46 months in prison for shooting the victim during a drunken altercation. There is no parole in the federal system. Anthony Sandoval, 41, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, and the victim were intoxicated when they…
Marcus Allen Benally, Assault on a Federal Officer with a Dangerous Weapon, New Mexico 2026
⏱ 2 min read On July 26, 2026, a chaotic emergency response unfolded in Shiprock, New Mexico, when Marcus Allen Benally, 41, allegedly used a rifle to threaten his neighbor, prompting Navajo Nation Police to intervene. Benally then fired in the direction of an officer, striking and damaging a patrol vehicle. The motive behind Benally’s…
Daniel Gordiano Valenzuela, Money Laundering Conspiracy, New Mexico 2026
Daniel Gordiano Valenzuela, a 60-year-old Mexican national, has been caught up in a dirty game of money laundering, and now he’s facing the music. According to court documents, Valenzuela served as a “money broker” for an organization that conspired with drug traffickers to launder money in Mexico. The scheme involved Valenzuela collecting over $1.9 million…
Zebadiah Romero, Murder, New Mexico 2023
⏱ 2 min read Zebadiah Romero, 38, brutally murdered a Taos Pueblo man in October 2023, shooting him in the back of the head at his residence on the Taos Pueblo. Romero, who had been banned from the Taos Pueblo, then stole the victim’s property, including his pickup truck and dog, and concealed evidence of…
Gerald Anthony Lopez, Machinegun Trafficking, New Mexico 2025
⏱ 2 min read Gerald Anthony Lopez, a 20-year-old from Deming, New Mexico, has been sentenced to 101 months in prison for his role in machinegun trafficking and fleeing a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint. On February 11, 2025, Lopez sold cocaine to an undercover law enforcement officer and displayed a Glock handgun equipped with a…
Kendrick Harvey, Assault, New Mexico 2024
⏱ 1 min read An Arizona man, Kendrick Harvey, 36, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for assaulting a woman at her New Mexico residence on September 16, 2024. Harvey, who was intoxicated at the time, pleaded guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury. The victim,…
David Candido Gomez, Possession of Child Pornography, New Mexico 2026
⏱ 2 min read A 51-year-old man from Belen, New Mexico, is facing federal charges for possessing child sexual abuse material. David Candido Gomez was identified as the suspect after Google reported two online accounts containing suspected child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in June 2026. The accounts,…
