Mescalero Apache Man Pleads Guilty To Unlawful Possession Of A Firearm

ALBUQUERQUE – Gary Raymond Ahidley, Jr., 27, a member and resident of the Mescalero Apache Nation, entered a guilty plea this morning to being a felon in possession of a firearm under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Ahidley pled guilty to Count 1 of a superseding indictment charging him with unlawfully possessing a firearm in Nov. 2010, in Otero County, N.M. At the time, Ahidley was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted on assault charges in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., and ordered to serve a 41 month prison sentence in Feb. 2007.

In entering his guilty plea this morning, Ahidley admitted possessing a Luger 9 mm handgun in Nov. 2010. Court records reflect that Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agents learned about the firearm in Dec. 2010 from a Mescalero woman who reported that Ahidley had assaulted her on Nov. 30, 2010. Based on information provided by the victim, the BIA agents were able to retrieve the weapon from a residence on the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

Ahidley has been in federal custody since his arrest in July 2012 and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. At sentencing, Ahidley faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Count 2 of the superseding indictment, charging Ahidley with assault, will be dismissed after Ahidley is sentenced.

This case was investigated by the Mescalero Agency of the BIA Office of Justice Services and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mick I.R. Gutierrez and Marisa A. Lizarraga of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.