Felon from Roswell Pleads Guilty to Violating Federal Firearms Laws

ALBUQUERQUE – Stephen Daniel Sanchez, 41, of Roswell, N.M., pled guilty yesterday in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to violating the federal firearms laws by unlawfully possessing a firearm.

Sanchez and his co-defendant Melodie Ann Andrews, 29, also of Roswell, were charged by criminal complaint with being felons in possession of firearms and ammunition on July 28, 2016, in Chaves County, N.M. According to the criminal complaint, law enforcement officers executed search warrants on the vehicle and the residence of Sanchez and Andrews on July 28, 2016, and seized approximately 12.1 grams of methamphetamine, 0.4 grams of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, firearms and ammunition, and $3,376 in cash. At the time, Sanchez was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because he previously had been convicted of second degree murder in 1996. Andrews also was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because she previously had been convicted of misprision of a felony in 2008.

During yesterday’s proceedings, Sanchez pled guilty to a felony information charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm. In entering the guilty plea, Sanchez admitted that on July 28, 2016, he possessed a firearm despite his prior conviction of second degree murder in Chaves County in 1996. At sentencing, Sanchez faces a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

Andrews has entered a plea of not guilty to the criminal complaint. If convicted of the charge in the complaint, Andrews faces a maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison. Charges in complaints are merely accusations. All criminal defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Chaves County Metro Narcotics Task Force, and the Roswell Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Balla of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.