ALBUQUERQUE – Elias David Parra, 29, of Deming, N.M., pleaded guilty this afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to violating the federal firearms laws.
Parra was arrested in Oct. 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. According to the complaint, officers of the Las Cruces Police Department arrested Parra after finding him in possession of a firearm and ammunition on Oct. 14, 2015, during a traffic stop in Doña Ana County, N.M. At the time, Parra was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of a drug trafficking felony in a Texas state court. Parra was indicted on Jan. 20, 2016.
During today’s proceedings, Parra pled guilty to the indictment, and admitted that he unlawfully possessed a firearm and ammunition on Oct. 14, 2015. Parra acknowledged that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition as a result of his prior felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance.
At sentencing, Parra faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in federal prison. He remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department and the Las Cruces Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.