Felon from Raton Sentenced for Unlawfully Possessing a Firearm and Ammunition

ALBUQUERQUE – Mark William Elliot, 46, of Raton, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 51 months in prison for violating the federal firearms laws by unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition.  Elliot will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

Elliot was arrested in July 2016, on an indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute on March 25, 2016, in Bernalillo County, N.M.  According to the indictment, Elliot was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of receiving or transferring stolen vehicles, tampering with evidence, forgery, and shooting at an occupied building.

According to court documents, on March 25, 2016, Albuquerque Police Department (APD) officers found Elliot asleep on the sidewalk next to his motorcycle, which was illegally parked in the road next to a stop sign.  After waking Elliot, the officers observed a bulge in Elliot’s right front pocket.  When the officers realized there was a firearm in Elliot’s pocket, the officers arrested Elliot as he attempted to flee.  APD officers recovered a loaded firearm and ammunition, approximately 18 grams of methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia from Elliot’s jacket during a search incident to his arrest. 

On Sept. 28, 2017, Elliot pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.  In entering the guilty plea, Elliot admitted possessing a loaded firearm in his right front pocket during an interaction with APD officers on March 25, 2016.  Elliot acknowledged that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition on March 25, 2016, because of his status as a convicted felon.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and APD and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rumaldo R. Armijo.