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Press Release

Cuban National Sentenced to Eighty-Six Months in Federal Prison for Violating Firearms Laws

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE – Alberto Sanchez, 51, a Cuban national residing in Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced this afternoon to 86 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.  Sanchez was convicted of this offense based on a guilty plea entered on Feb. 26, 2014.

Sanchez was arrested in July 2013, on an indictment charging him with possession of a handgun and ammunition in Bernalillo County, N.M., on July 19, 2012.  At the time, Sanchez was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because previously he had been convicted of three drug trafficking offenses in 1998; a drug trafficking offense in 2003; and two aggravated battery offenses in 2007 in the 2nd Judicial District Court for the State of New Mexico

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis E. Valencia.

Sanchez was prosecuted as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution.  Under this initiative, 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 communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.

Updated January 26, 2015