Alamogordo Felon Sentenced for Unlawfully Possessing Firearm and Ammunition

ALBUQUERQUE – Colby Edward Steele, 32, of Alamogordo, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., for violating the federal firearms laws by unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition. Steele will serve 41 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Steele was arrested on Feb. 3, 2017, on a criminal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition on Feb. 2, 2017.  According to the complaint, Steele was arrested in the desert near Alamogordo while attempting to flee from law enforcement officers who were executing a warrant for Steele’s arrest on a parole violation out of Arizona.  Officers located a firearm with a chambered round in Steele’s pants pocket and multiple rounds of ammunition in the sand near Steele incident to Steele’s arrest.  Steele was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted in 2003 of possession of a controlled substance in Otero County, N.M., and in 2008 for being a felon in possession of a firearm in Dona Ana County, N.M.

On May 2, 2017, Steele pled guilty to a felony information charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm.  In entering the guilty plea, Steele admitted that on Feb. 2, 2017, he possessed a handgun and ammunition when he was arrested by law enforcement.  Steele acknowledged that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his status as a convicted felon.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Border Patrol.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy M. Castellano of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.