Federal Authorities Complete Largest Racketeering Prosecution in District History Against Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE - The United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico announced today the conclusion of the federal prosecution of the Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico (SNM) prison gang following the conclusion of recent sentencing hearings. Spanning over a decade, the investigation and subsequent litigation resulted in state and federal charges against 178 members and associates.

Originating in the New Mexico state prison system following the 1980 prison riot, SNM functioned as a violent racketeering enterprise operating both inside correctional facilities and in communities throughout New Mexico, maintaining power through murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and witness intimidation. SNM operated under a "blood in, blood out" philosophy, members were required to commit acts of violence to gain entry into the gang. The federal prosecutions, conducted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and the Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR) statute, successfully resolved decades of such violence.

The investigation employed extensive and long-term investigative techniques, including more than 110 undercover drug and firearm purchases, dozens of confidential human sources, and court-authorized wire intercepts. Investigators uncovered a coordinated criminal enterprise involving SNM and affiliated gangs that trafficked fentanyl and methamphetamine both inside correctional facilities and in communities across New Mexico, while using violence and intimidation, including targeting suspected cooperators, to maintain control.

Highlights of the investigation and litigation include:

• 156 individuals federally indicted for 325 overt acts between 1980-2024.
• Federal authorities successfully charged and convicted members of 13 murders committed both inside and outside state facilities. These include the 2001 cold-case strangulations of two inmates in state facilities and the 2007 and 2014 killing of two inmates SNM leadership suspected to be cooperators.
• Authorities disrupted a 2015 conspiracy to assassinate the then-Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Corrections Department and high-ranking members of the New Mexico State Police in retaliation for the conviction of SNM associate Michael Paul Astorga for the murder of BCSO Deputy Jim McGrane.
• In October 2022, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the convictions of the gang's leaders, affirming the government's application of federal racketeering laws to prison-based criminal enterprises.
• Six jury trials resulting in nine convictions.
• 12 SNM members sentenced to life in prison: Anthony Ray Baca, Jody Rufino Martinez, Robert Padilla, Angel DeLeon, Joe Gallegos, Edward Troup, Carlos Hererra, Anthony Cordova, Arturo Arnulfo Garcia, Billy Garcia, Daniel Sanchez, and Sam Silva.
• $1.8 million in cash, 1.1 million fentanyl pills and 160 pounds of methamphetamine seized during the execution of 16 federal search warrants on September 1, 2022.

"This case required years of patience, discipline, and persistence from prosecutors, agents, and staff who stayed with it to the end," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison. "It was difficult work, but it was necessary work, and this office saw it through."

"It is impossible to overstate the enormity of this investigation. For more than a decade, our team and partners stayed committed to dismantling violent crime and delivering justice for the victims and communities most impacted by this gang's violence," said Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Division. "Protecting the American people remains the highest priority of the FBI. I want to thank not only the Albuquerque FBI Special Agents and support staff who worked on this investigation, but also the U.S. Attorney's Office, and every other agency who saw this case through to the end."

The FBI's Albuquerque Field Office Violent Gang Task Force (VGTF) investigated the cases with assistance from the New Mexico Department of Corrections, New Mexico State Police, U.S. Marshals Service, Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office, Metropolitan Correction Center, Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, Albuquerque Police Department, FBI's El Paso, Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas and Knoxville divisions, Drug Enforcement Administration's Albuquerque District Office and the Las Vegas (NM) Police Department. The Las Cruces Branch Office of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico prosecuted the cases.