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Failed candidate found guilty in shooting plot against New Mexico Democrats
Solomon Peña was "angry about losing the election," one of the targeted officials has said.
Failed candidate found guilty in shooting plot against New Mexico Democrats
Solomon Peña was "angry about losing the election," one of the targeted officials has said.
www.nbcnews.com
A failed Republican candidate was found guilty Wednesday of hiring people to shoot at the homes of local Democratic leaders after he lost an election for the New Mexico House of Representatives, according to his attorney.
Solomon Peña, 41, was charged with multiple felonies, including three counts of solicitation to commit a crime of violence, three counts of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and discharging the firearm, being a felon in possession of a firearm and conspiracy, according to a federal superseding indictment filed against him in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque.
A jury found him guilty on all counts Wednesday evening, according to his lead attorney, Nicholas T. Hart.
Peña faces life in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.
Federal prosecutors said that Peña, “refusing to accept his electoral defeat,” organized a “shooting spree that targeted the homes of four elected officials and their families” from Dec. 4, 2022, to Jan. 3, 2023, according to court records.
In a text message after the jury's verdict, Hart called it "a travesty."
"The evidence showed that Mr. Pena had nothing to do with these shootings. Solomon Pena was prosecuted because of his political beliefs, and because he advocated that the 2020 election was stolen and rigged,” Hart said.
He added: “Meanwhile, the men who actually shot at and terrorized these politicians are going to walk free. That is not how our system is supposed to work.”
Prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdict.
The shootings, one of which involved a machine gun, were carried out by Peña and co-defendants Demetrio Trujillo, 43, and his son, Jose Trujillo, 24, according to federal prosecutors.
Both men pleaded guilty last year to charges of conspiracy, interference with federally protected activities, using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence and other counts, prosecutors said.
They have not been sentenced but face up to life in prison.
