Valencia County Man Sentenced to Prison for Violating Federal Firearms Laws

ALBUQUERQUE – Tomas Torres, 31, of Peralta, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 92 months in prison for violating the federal firearms laws.  Torres will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

Torres was arrested on Sept. 10, 2014, on an indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number on Jan. 11, 2014, in Valencia County, N.M.  Torres was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of numerous felony offenses including, possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of heroin, commercial burglary, criminal damage to property and unlawful taking of a motor vehicle. 

On Dec. 22, 2015, Torres pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on Jan. 11, 2014, he possessed a handgun with an obliterated serial number which he tried to conceal in his mother’s vehicle when he found out police officers were searching for him.  Torres further admitted that on Jan. 13, 2014, officers executed a search warrant on his vehicle and found approximately 20 rounds of ammunition inside the vehicle. 

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Peralta Police Department and the Los Lunas Police Department. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rumaldo R. Armijo and Edward Han prosecuted the case under a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution.  Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders primarily based on their prior criminal convictions for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.  Because New Mexico’s violent crime rate, on a per capita basis, is one of the highest in the nation, New Mexico’s law enforcement community is collaborating to target repeat offenders from counties with the highest violent crime rates, including Valencia County, N.M., under this initiative.