EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A federal judge has sentenced an Albuquerque, New Mexico, man to 22 years in prison for a series of armed robberies involving the use of a BB gun and a toy gun.

Demetrius Antonnie Bailey, 41, admitted to robbing multiple cell phone stores, a hardware store and a JCPenney with an unnamed accomplice between July 11 and Sept. 16, 2023, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.

During the robberies, Bailey and his accomplice brandished a BB gun, a toy gun and, on one occasion, a real handgun to threaten employees and security guards while stealing electronics, cash and clothing worth tens of thousands of dollars, prosecutors said.

Law enforcement officers arrested Bailey on Sept. 28, 2023, while in possession of a stolen firearm. A records check showed he had prior armed robbery convictions, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Bailey pleaded guilty to 10 federal charges, including interference with commerce by robbery, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime, and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. Upon his release from prison, Bailey will be subject to five years of supervised release.

The FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Albuquerque Police Department and the New Mexico Department of Justice. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maria Elena Stiteler and Natasha Moghadam prosecuted the case.

Man pleads guilty to threatening President Trump

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A San Antonio man faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of threatening the life of President Trump.

Robert Herrera, 52, allegedly made the threat last year, July 10, on the Facebook page of a news outlet reporting that Trump would visit Texas Hill Country in the wake of deadly flooding.

According to court documents, Herrera posted a photo of the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on then-candidate Donald Trump in Pennsylvania along with the comment, “I won’t miss.”

Herrera allegedly further posted a photo of an assault rifle and loaded magazines, threatening someone who criticized his post. The post included the phrase, “I’ll just come for you,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.

Federal agents arrested Herrera the same day he allegedly posted the threat. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Herrera on Wednesday pleaded guilty to the charge.

The Secret Service, the FBI, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the San Antonio Police Department investigated the case.

Las Cruces man sentenced for drug possession

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A Las Cruces, New Mexico, man who led police on a foot chase while disposing of illicit drugs along the way will spend the next seven years in a federal prison.

Guillermo Yanez, 47, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine in connection to his May 15, 2024, arrest in a Las Cruces apartment complex.

That’s when Las Cruces Police Department officers attempted to serve a warrant on Yanez on a narcotics evidence tampering warrant out of El Paso, Texas. According to court records, Yanez fled the officers, jumped a wall into the apartment complex and was seen by pursuing officers reaching into his waistband and discarding drugs.

The officers fired non-lethal bullets at Yanez and finally apprehended him with meth and cash still in his pocket, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico said.

The arresting officers searched the path of Yanez’s flight and found a container with fentanyl-laced pills, powdered fentanyl, and meth. Yanez later admitted the drugs were his and that he sold narcotics to support his methamphetamine addiction, the U.S Attorney’s Office said.