ALBUQUERQUE – Christopher Andres Aguirre, 36, of Deming, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 110 months in prison for violating the federal firearms laws. Aguirre will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.
Aguirre was arrested in April 2013, on a criminal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. According to the complaint, on March 5, 2013, Las Cruces Police Department (LCPD) officers encountered Aguirre inside a Walmart in Las Cruces, where Aguirre was attempting to purchase ammunition. At the time, Aguirre was also in possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number and ammunition.
Aguirre was subsequently indicted on the same charges on July 17, 2013. Aguirre was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his prior felony convictions for retaliation against a federal official, escape of a prisoner from a correctional institution, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
On Nov. 6, 2013, Aguirre pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on March 5, 2013, in Doña Ana County, N.M., he possessed a pistol with an obliterated serial number.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the LCPD. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted this 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.