ALBUQUERQUE – This morning, Senior United States District Judge John E. Conway sentenced Albuquerque resident Gilbert J. Turrieta, 45, to a 100-month term of imprisonment to be followed by three-years supervised release based on his conviction for assaulting a federal officer. Turrieta has been in custody since his arrest on October 20, 2009.

On August 20, 2010, a federal jury convicted Turrieta of assaulting a federal officer after after a two-day trial. Court records reveal that, on February 3, 2009, a state warrant was issued for Turrieta’s arrest. Trial testimony established that, on October 20, 2009, members of the Southwest Investigative Fugitive Team (SWIFT), including Deputy United States Marshals, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s officers and New Mexico State Probation and Parole officers, located and arrested Turrietta after receiving a tip concerning his whereabouts. Turrietta barricaded himself in a shed and resisted officers’ efforts to arrest him. When the officers entered the shed to pull him out, Turrietta bit a Deputy U.S. Marshal on the left forearm requiring medical attention. Turrietta eventually was subdued and arrested.

After the sentencing hearing, United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said:

“Given the crime of conviction, the sentence imposed on Gilbert Turrieta today is completely appropriate. Our law enforcement officers face danger every day as they do their job to protect our neighborhoods and that danger comes in many forms. We cannot tolerate any type of violent conduct directed at our officers, and I want every officer on the job to know that my Office will vigorously prosecute anyone who attempts to injure an officer who is just doing the job he was hired to do.”

Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer M. Rozzoni and Jack E. Burkhead prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the United States Marshals Service.

 

 

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