Two Men Receive Seven-Year Prison Sentences for Armed Robbery on Sandia Pueblo
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 30, 2011 |
ALBUQUERQUE—This morning in federal court in Albuquerque, Christian Trancosa, 24, a member of the Pueblo of San Felipe, and Jonathan Gallegos, 19, of Albuquerque, each was sentenced to a seven-year term of imprisonment for using a firearm during a crime of violence. Trancosa and Gallegos each will be on supervised release for three years after completing their prison sentences.
United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that Trancosa and Gallegos were arrested after they stole a safe containing approximately $28,000 from the home of a Sandia Pueblo council member at gunpoint on the evening of September 13, 2010. Trancosa and Gallegos were arrested on September 14, 2010, and have been in federal custody since that time. The two men subsequently were indicted on September 29, 2010 and charged with: (1) conspiracy to commit robbery; (2) robbery; (3) assault with a dangerous weapon; and (4) using a firearm during a crime of violence.
According to court filings, on September 13, 2010, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) initiated an investigation after learning that a Sandia Pueblo council member had been the victim of an armed robbery (the Victim). The investigation revealed that, earlier that day, Trancosa enlisted Gallegos to help him rob the Victim, who was reputed to keep a significant amount of money at his home on the Pueblo of Sandia. After borrowing rifles, Trancosa and Gallegos went to the Victim’s home, entered the home, and demanded to know where the Victim kept his safe. The Victim revealed the location of the safe after Trancosa pointed his rifle at his head. Thereafter, Trancosa and Gallegos fled from the Victim’s home, taking the safe with them.
In entering their respective guilty pleas, Trancosa and Gallegos each admitted using a firearm when they robbed the Victim of his safe. Under the terms of their plea agreements, the remaining counts of the indictment against Trancosa and Gallegos were dismissed after they were sentenced.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the BIA, Office of Justice Services, Northern Pueblos Agency, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.