United States v. Baca
Decision Date | 04 November 2019 |
Docket Number | No. CR 15-4268 JB,CR 15-4268 JB |
Citation | 428 F.Supp.3d 800 |
Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Anthony Ray BACA, a.k.a. "Pup", Defendant. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico |
Fred Federici, Attorney for the United States, Acting Under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515, Albuquerque, New Mexico --and-- Maria Ysabel Armijo, Randy M. Castellano, Matthew Beck, Assistant United States Attorneys, United States Attorney's Office, Las Cruces, New Mexico, Attorneys for the Plaintiff.
Sarah M. Gorman, Law Offices of Robert D. Gorman, Albuquerque, New Mexico --and-- Susan M. Porter, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Angel DeLeon.
Richard Sindel, Sindel, Sindel & Noble, P.C., Clayton, Missouri --and-- Brock Benjamin, Benjamin Law Firm, El Paso, Texas, Attorneys for Defendant Joe Lawrence Gallegos.
Patrick J. Burke, Patrick J. Burke, P.C., Denver, Colorado --and-- Cori Ann Harbour-Valdez, The Harbour Law Firm, P.C., El Paso, Texas, Attorneys for Defendant Edward Troup.
Donald R. Knight, Littleton, Colorado --and-- Russell Dean Clark, Las Cruces, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Leonard Lujan.
Jason Bowles, Bowles Law Firm, Albuquerque, New Mexico --and-- Joseph Libory Green, The Law Firm of Joseph Green, L.L.C., Chesterfield, Missouri --and-- Kathleen Lord, Lord Law Firm, LLC, Denver, Colorado --and-- Mario Carreon, Las Cruces, New Mexico --and-- James A. Castle, Castle & Castle, P.C., Denver, Colorado --and-- Robert R. Cooper, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Billy Garcia.
Carlos Ibarra, Las Cruces, New Mexico --and-- David A. Lane, Killmer, Lane & Newman, LLP, Denver, Colorado --and-- Douglas E. Couleur, Douglas E. Couleur, P.A., Santa Fe, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Eugene Martinez.
Joseph E. Shattuck, Marco & Shattuck Law Firm, Albuquerque, New Mexico --and-- Jeffrey C. Lahann, Las Cruces, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Allen Patterson.
Eduardo Solis, El Paso, Texas --and-- John L. Granberg, Granberg Law Office, El Paso, Texas --and-- Orlando Mondragon, El Paso, Texas, Attorneys for Defendant Christopher Chavez.
Nathan D. Chambers, Nathan D. Chambers, Attorney at Law, Denver Colorado --and-- Noel Orquiz, Deming, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Javier Alonso.
Scott Moran Davidson, Albuquerque, New Mexico --and-- Billy R. Blackburn, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Arturo Arnulfo Garcia.
Stephen E. Hosford, Stephen E. Hosford, P.C., Arrey, New Mexico --and-- Jerry Daniel Herrera, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Benjamin Clark.
Pedro Pineda, Las Cruces, New Mexico --and-- León Encinias, León Felipe Encinias, Attorney at Law, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Ruben Hernandez.
Gary Mitchell, Mitchell Law Office, Ruidoso, New Mexico, Attorney for Defendant Jerry Armenta.
Larry A. Hammond, Osborn Maledon, P.A., Phoenix, Arizona --and-- Margaret Strickland, McGraw & Strickland, Las Cruces, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Jerry Montoya.
Steven M. Potolsky, Jacksonville Beach, Florida --and-- Santiago D. Hernandez, Law Office of Santiago D. Hernandez, El Paso, Texas, Attorneys for Defendant Mario Rodriguez.
Steven Lorenzo Almanza, Las Cruces, New Mexico --and-- Ray Velarde, El Paso, Texas, Attorneys for Defendant Timothy Martinez.
Joe Spencer, El Paso, Texas --and-- Mary Stillinger, El Paso, Texas, Attorneys for Defendant Mauricio Varela.
Josh R. Lee, Denver, Colorado --and-- Lauren Noriega, The Noriega Law Firm, Los Angeles, California --and-- Amy E. Jacks, Law Office of Amy E. Jacks, Los Angeles, California --and-- Richard Jewkes, El Paso, Texas, Attorneys for Defendant Daniel Sanchez.
George A. Harrison, Las Cruces, New Mexico --and-- Kimberly S. Bruselas-Benavidez, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Gerald Archuleta.
B.J. Crow, Crow Law Firm, Roswell, New Mexico, Attorney for Defendant Conrad Villegas.
Theresa M. Duncan, Duncan Earnest LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico --and-- Marc M. Lowry, Rothstein Donatelli LLP, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Anthony Ray Baca.
Charles J. McElhinney, CJM Law Firm, Las Cruces, New Mexico, Attorney for Defendant Robert Martinez.
Marcia J. Milner, Las Cruces, New Mexico, Attorney for Defendant Roy Paul Martinez.
Marc M. Lowry, Rothstein Donatelli LLP, Albuquerque, New Mexico --and-- Christopher W. Adams, Charleston, South Carolina --and-- Amy Sirignano, Law Office of Amy Sirignano, P.C., Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Christopher Garcia.
Michael V. Davis, Michael V. Davis, Attorney & Counselor at Law, P.C., Corrales, New Mexico --and-- Ryan J. Villa, Law Office of Ryan J. Villa, Albuquerque, New Mexico --and-- William R. Maynard, El Paso, Texas --and-- Carey Corlew Bhalla, Law Office of Carey C. Bhalla, LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Carlos Herrera.
Justine Fox-Young, Albuquerque, New Mexico --and-- Ryan J. Villa, Law Office of Ryan J. Villa, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Rudy Perez.
Lisa Torraco, Albuquerque, New Mexico --and-- Donavon A. Roberts, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Andrew Gallegos.
Erlinda O. Johnson, Law Office of Erlinda Ocampo Johnson, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorney for Defendant Santos Gonzalez.
Keith R. Romero, Keith R. Romero, Attorney and Counselor at Law, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorney for Paul Rivera.
Angela Arellanes, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorney for Defendant Shauna Gutierrez.
Alfred D. Creecy, Albuquerque, New Mexico --and-- Jerry A. Walz, Walz and Associates, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for Defendant Brandy Rodriguez.
THIS MATTER comes before the Court on the Defendant Baca's Objections to Presentence Report, filed June 10, 2019 (Doc. 2690)("Objections"). The Court held a sentencing hearing on June 12, 2019. The primary issues are: (i) whether the 2-level adjustment for attacking a vulnerable victim under § 3A1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines Manual (U.S. Sentencing Comm'n 2018)("U.S.S.G." or "Guidelines")1 applies where Defendant Anthony Ray Baca was not present at Javier Molina's murder and where Baca argues that there is no evidence that Baca "was involved in ordering, planning, or directing the details of Mr. Molina's murder," Objections ¶ 6, at 3; and (ii) whether the Court should apply U.S.S.G. § 5G1.3(a) so Baca's federal sentence will run consecutively with his state sentence, because Baca was incarcerated and serving a sentence for murder when he committed the federal offenses. The Court concludes that: (i) a preponderance of the evidence establishes that Baca knew or should have known that Molina was particularly vulnerable to being murdered, because of his cooperation with law enforcement, Baca's order that Molina be killed, and Molina's incarceration with fellow Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico ("SNM") members who knew of his cooperation and the order for his death; and (ii) a preponderance of the evidence establishes that Baca committed the instant offenses while serving an undischarged term of imprisonment, and therefore his federal sentence will run consecutively to his prior state sentence. Accordingly, the Court overrules Baca's Objections and applies U.S.S.G. §§ 3A1.1 and 5G1.3(a).
Baca is one of many Defendants named in a sixteen-count indictment charging "members/prospects/associates of the" SNM with "acts of violence and other criminal activities, including[ ] murder, kidnapping, attempted murder, conspiracy to manufacture/distribute narcotics, and firearms trafficking." Second Superseding Indictment ¶ 1, at 2, filed March 9, 2017 (Doc. 949)("Indictment"). The Indictment alleges that SNM constitutes an enterprise "as defined in Title 18, United States Code, Section 1959(b)(2), that is, a group of individuals associated in fact that engaged in, and the activities of which affected, interstate and foreign commerce." Indictment ¶ 2, at 2-3. The Court has provided background information on the SNM in a number of prior opinions, including in its Memorandum Opinion and Order, 287 F. Supp. 3d 1187 (D.N.M. 2018) (" MOO"). The Court provides this information, which is gathered from the Indictment, to provide background information on this case and recognizes that this information reflects largely Plaintiff United States of America's version of events:
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