A former Republican candidate for a state legislative seat in New Mexico was found guilty on federal charges on Wednesday in connection with drive-by shootings targeting the homes of four Democratic officials.
The former candidate, Solomon Peña, was accused of orchestrating the shootings at the homes of the Democratic officials that took place in early December 2022 and early January 2023, weeks after he lost his bid for a statehouse seat. No one was injured in the attacks, though the authorities said bullets entered the bedroom of a state senator’s 10-year-old daughter.
A jury deliberated for about five hours before finding Mr. Peña guilty on all 13 counts, including conspiracy, weapons-related charges and interference with federally protected activities, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in New Mexico said. Two other defendants in the case, Demetrio Trujillo and his son Jose Trujillo, pleaded guilty last year.
In response to a request for comment, Nicholas Hart, Mr. Peña’s lawyer, said in a text message that he planned to appeal the verdict, which he said was “a travesty.”
“I think that trial was all about politics,” he said.
When Mr. Peña was arrested in January 2023, the authorities said that he had paid four men in cash and “sent text messages with addresses where he wanted them to shoot at the homes.”
The drive-by shootings started in December 2022, when shots were fired at three homes belonging to Democratic officials, including a county commissioner and a state senator.
Mr. Peña refused to concede his loss in the 2022 legislative race, even after falling short by a wide margin to an incumbent in an Albuquerque district that has long voted for Democrats. Prosecutors said he visited the homes of several county commissioners and a state senator to urge them not to certify the results, complaining that the contest had been “rigged.”
“He approached all of these commissioners and the senator at their home with paperwork claiming there was fraud involved in those elections,” Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department, said in 2023.
Mr. Peña’s trial started on March 10 and went to the jury after just over two weeks of testimony, according to court documents. The Justice Department said in 2023 that he would face a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 60 years if he were to be convicted on the federal charges.
Mr. Peña was convicted in 2008 on a range of state charges, including burglary of a vehicle, larceny and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He began serving time in May 2009 and was released under probation and parole in March 2016, according to the New Mexico Corrections Department. He was discharged from supervision in March 2021.
Sara Ruberg contributed reporting.
