Prior Felon from Las Cruces Sentenced to Thirty Months in Prison for Unlawful Possession of Firearm

ALBUQUERQUE – Yesterday afternoon, Alfonso Levya, 34, of Las Cruces, was sentenced to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales and Thomas G. Atteberry, Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Levya was arrested on a criminal complaint in Sept. 2011, and subsequently was indicted in Jan. 2012, and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. According to the indictment, Levya unlawfully possessed a firearm and ammunition in Dona Ana County, N.M., on April 7, 2010. At the time, Levya was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of a marijuana importation charge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Levya pled guilty to the indictment on May 7, 2012, under a plea agreement that required Levya to forfeit the firearm and ammunition that were in his possession on April 7, 2010.

ATF Special Agent in Charge Atteberry stated, “Today’s sentencing serves as an example that law enforcement in the state of New Mexico will not tolerate the criminal possession of firearms by prohibited individuals. I would like to recognize the efforts of our law enforcement partners in removing another potential threat from our community.”

The case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Las Cruces/Dona Ana County Metro Narcotics Unit, the New Mexico State Police Narcotics Unit and the Las Cruces Police Department Targeting Neighborhoods Threats (TNT) Unit, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.