Las Cruces Teenager Charged with Receiving Firearm While Under Indictment

ALBUQUERQUE – A Las Cruces teenager has been charged with illegally receiving a firearm while under indictment following an investigation that linked him to a handgun through social media evidence.

According to court documents, on August 31, 2025, Doña Ana County Sheriff's deputies responded to a call involving multiple people with firearms near the intersection of Roe Deer Court and Cous Deer Avenue. Deputies had been searching for a sedan that had dropped off a gunshot victim at a local hospital earlier that day and located the sedan and another vehicle at the scene.

The owner of the second vehicle stated she did not own any firearms and provided written consent to search the vehicle. Inside, detectives recovered a loaded handgun from the back seat, with a round in the chamber and a 17-round capacity magazine. The owner indicated she believed her passenger, Anthony Jacob Lopez, 19, left the firearm in her vehicle.

A subsequent search warrant for Lopez's Instagram account and cell phone revealed multiple photographs and videos of Lopez with the same handgun on various dates. Instagram messages from July 14, 2025, showed an associate offering to sell Lopez the specific handgun for $600, with Lopez confirming the purchase on July 18, 2025, stating "Appreciate dat heater too brudda good ass deal." Cell phone data showed photographs of the firearm taken at Lopez's residence in Las Cruces.

On March 5, 2025, Lopez received a two-year deferred sentence for Smuggling of Persons in Texas and is currently on supervised release. His probation conditions explicitly prohibit him from possessing or transporting any firearms. Under federal law, Lopez is considered under indictment until he successfully completes his deferred sentence. Lopez is charged with receiving a firearm while under indictment. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

The Las Cruces Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Las Cruces Police Department and Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo is prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

This press release was posted November 14, after the end of the federal government shutdown.