Alamogordo Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possession of Unregistered Saw-Offed Shotgun

ALBUQUERQUE – Kenneth Colby Miller, 31, of Alamogordo, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for violating the federal firearms laws by possessing an unregistered firearm.

Miller was arrested on April 30, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of an unregistered firearm.  According to the complaint, on Dec. 3, 2014, an officer with the Roswell Police Department conducted a routine traffic stop on Miller’s vehicle in Chaves County, N.M.  After conducting a consensual search of Miller’s vehicle, the officer recovered a single shot “sawed-off” shotgun with no visible serial number or manufacturers markings.  After further investigation, Miller’s background also revealed that he had been convicted twice of unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and reckless driving.

On July 1, 2015, Miller pled guilty to a felony information charging him with possession of an unregistered firearm.  In entering the guilty plea, Miller admitted that on Dec. 3, 2014, he possessed a sawed-off 20 gauge shotgun which did not have a serial number and was not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Roswell Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis A. Martinez of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.