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Press Release

Mexican National Sentenced to One Hundred Months for Violating Federal Firearms and Immigration Laws

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

ALBUQUERQUE – Luis Anthony Tobanche, 34, a Mexican national illegally present in the United States, was sentenced today to 100 months in federal prison for violating the federal firearms and immigration laws.  Tobanche will be deported after completing his prison sentence.

Tobanche was arrested in March 2013, based on a criminal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm.  Tobanche was indicted in Aug. 2013 and charged with unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition on March 5, 2013, and unlawful reentry by a previously deported alien.  At the time, Tobanche was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of aggravated battery and assault with a deadly weapon, cocaine trafficking and heroin trafficking in 2006, and battery on a peace officer in 2010.

According to court filings, Tobanche unlawfully possessed firearms and ammunition on March 5, 2013, while on the grounds of the Sandia Casino on Sandia Pueblo, N.M.  The Casino’s video surveillance cameras recorded a shooting episode in a parking garage during which Tobanche ran towards the elevators after being shot in the neck.  Video-footage reveals that Tobanche attempted to fire at the vehicle from which the shot was fired.  After the vehicle drove away, Tobanche entered the elevator and handed a silver handgun to another person.  Deputies of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office subsequently recovered the firearm from that person.

On June 9, 2014, Tobanche entered a guilty plea and admitted possessing a pistol, a shotgun and ammunition on March 5, 2013, despite his status as a convicted felon.  Tobanche also admitted that he previously was deported from the United States in June 2010 and had not obtained authorization to reenter the United States.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI, the Sandia Pueblo Tribal Police Department and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon K. Stanford. 

The case 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