Federal Grand Jury Files Indictment Charging Kevin Folse with Firearms and Carjacking Charges

ALBUQUERQUE – U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, 2nd Judicial District Attorney Kari E. Brandenburg, Special Agent in Charge Thomas G. Atteberry of the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Chief Gorden Eden, Jr., of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) announced today that a federal grand jury has filed an indictment charging Kevin Folse, 30, of Albuquerque, N.M., with firearms and carjacking charges.

Folse made his initial appearance in federal court on the three-count indictment this morning.  He was remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and will be detained pending trial.

Folse initially was charged on July 6, 2015, by criminal complaint with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.  The indictment subsequently was filed on July 14, 2015, and charged Folse with (1) being a felon in possession of a firearm, (2) carjacking, and (3) brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.  The indictment alleges that Folse committed the three crimes on July 2, 2015, in Bernalillo County, N.M.

Court filings allege that between June 30, 2015 and July 2, 2015, Folse committed a number of violent crimes as he eluded arrest by APD officers.  On the morning of July 2, 2015, Folse allegedly threw a semiautomatic pistol out of a vehicle he was driving while being pursued by APD officers.  APD officers subsequently recovered the firearm from an individual who was working in the vicinity of the area that the firearm was thrown.  Folse allegedly wrecked the vehicle he was driving and continued his flight on foot.  APD officers then observed Folse allegedly commit a carjacking and flee in the carjacked vehicle.

According to court records, Folse was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition on July 2, 2015, because he was a convicted felon.  Court records reflect that Folse had been convicted for receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, marijuana trafficking, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Folse was arrested in the late night hours of July 3, 2015, by officers of the Isleta Pueblo Tribal Police Department.  Folse remained in state custody on related state charges until today when he was transferred to federal custody.  The state charges against Folse will be dismissed in favor of federal prosecution.

If convicted of the charges in the indictment, Folse faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison for unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition and ten years on the carjacking charge.  If convicted for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, Folse faces a statutory mandatory minimum of seven years in prison which must be served consecutive to any sentence imposed on the felon in possession and carjacking charges.  Charges in criminal complaints and indictments are mere accusations.  Defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

This case was investigated by the ATF office in Albuquerque and APD with assistance from the Isleta Pueblo Tribal Police Department and the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel A. Hurtado is prosecuting the case.

This case is being 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.  Because New Mexico’s violent crime rates, on a per capita basis, are amongst the highest in the nation, New Mexico’s law enforcement community is collaborating to target repeat offenders from counties with the highest violent crime rates, including Bernalillo County, under this initiative.