{"id":27223,"date":"2011-03-14T19:40:52","date_gmt":"2011-03-15T01:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=27223"},"modified":"2011-03-14T19:40:55","modified_gmt":"2011-03-15T01:40:55","slug":"trustee%e2%80%99s-wife-also-charged-in-firearms-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/03\/trustee%e2%80%99s-wife-also-charged-in-firearms-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Trustee\u2019s wife also charged in firearms case"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_27097\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignright\" style=\"max-width: 270px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-27097 \" title=\"ColumbusNM\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/ColumbusNM2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"218\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Town of Columbus, N.M.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The wife of a Columbus village trustee indicted last week on charges related to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/03\/columbus-mayor-police-chief-charged-with-drug-trafficking\/\" target=\"_blank\">being part of an illegal firearms trafficking ring<\/a> has become the 12th person charged in the case.<\/p>\n<p>Gabriela Gutierrez, the wife of trustee Blas Gutierrez, was booked into the Do\u00f1a Ana County Detention Center around 1 a.m. Saturday. She is charged with making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of firearms, adding and abetting, and conspiracy.<\/p>\n<p>You can read the criminal complaint filed by Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Special Agent Mois\u00e9s Maldonado by clicking <a href=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/Documents\/GabrielaGutierrezComplaint.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to the complaint, federal investigators learned of Gabriela Gutierrez\u2019s involvement in the case from one of the defendants indicted and arrested last week \u2013 someone who is identified in the criminal complaint only as a confidential source.<\/p>\n<p>Gabriela Gutierrez, like the other defendants, is alleged to have been involved in the purchasing of firearms for trafficking into Mexico. On Thursday \u2013 the day indictments against the other 11 defendants were unsealed and 10 were arrested \u2013 agents served a search warrant at the home of Blas and Gabriela Gutierrez. There, according to the complaint, they found Gabriela Gutierrez \u201cattempting to hide bulk cash on her person and within her children\u2019s shoes.\u201d<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is affiant\u2019s belief Gabriela Gutierrez was attempting to keep the special agents searching her residence from seizing the bulk cash,\u201d the complaint states.<\/p>\n<p>Though Gabriela Gutierrez has been charged, she has not been indicted by a grand jury.<\/p>\n<p>Her husband faces 37 counts including one count of conspiracy, 17 counts of making false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms, and 19 counts of firearms smuggling. Blas Gutierrez\u2019s sister and cousin are also charged in the case, as are Columbus Mayor Eddie Espinoza and Police Chief Angelo Vega.<\/p>\n<p>Blas Gutierrez\u2019s attorney said Sunday that the charges against him <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/03\/columbus-trustee-says-charges-are-%E2%80%98politically-motivated%E2%80%99\/\" target=\"_blank\">are politically motivated<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>One defendant in the case, Ignacio Villalobos of Columbus, remains at large. Most of the others are scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday. Read the full indictment\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/Documents\/ColumbusIndictments.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The wife of a Columbus village trustee indicted last week on charges related to being part of an illegal firearms trafficking ring has become the 12th person charged in the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[140,142,195],"class_list":["post-27223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-border-and-immigration","tag-crime","tag-mexicos-drug-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27223\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}