Failed New Mexico candidate will get 80 years in shootings at rivals’ houses : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3036x1885+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fda%2F02%2Fae3b833e43ee8dc65c9106771ee4%2Fap25225817075827.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3036x1885+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fda%2F02%2Fae3b833e43ee8dc65c9106771ee4%2Fap25225817075827.jpg" class="img" alt="FILE - Solomon Pena, center, a Republican candidate for New Mexico House District 14, is taken into custody by Albuquerque Police officers, Jan. 16, 2023, in southwest Albuquerque, N.M. (Roberto E. Rosales/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, File)" fetchpriority="high"/> FILE - Solomon Pena, heart, a Republican candidate for New Mexico Home District 14, is taken into custody by Albuquerque Law enforcement officials, Jan. 16, 2023, in southwest Albuquerque, N.M. Roberto E. Rosales/AP/The Albuquerque Journal conceal caption

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Roberto E. Rosales/AP/The Albuquerque Journal ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A failed political candidate was sentenced to 80 years in federal jail Wednesday for his convictions in a sequence of drive-by shootings on the houses of state and native lawmakers within the aftermath of the 2020 election.

A jury convicted former Republican candidate Solomon Peña earlier this yr of conspiracy, weapons and different fees within the shootings in December 2022 and January 2023 on the houses of 4 Democratic officers in Albuquerque, together with the present state Home speaker.

Prosecutors, who had sought a 90-year sentence, mentioned Peña has proven no regret and had hoped to trigger political change by terrorizing individuals who held opposite views to him into being too afraid to participate in political life.

Peña's legal professionals had sought a 60-year sentence, saying their consumer maintains that he's harmless of the fees. They've mentioned Peña was not concerned within the shootings and that prosecutors had been counting on the testimony of two males who bear duty and accepted plea agreements in trade for leniency.

"As we speak was a needed step towards Mr. Peña's continued struggle to show his innocence," mentioned Nicholas Hart, one in every of Peña's attorneys. "He seems ahead to the chance to attraction, the place critical points in regards to the propriety of this prosecution will likely be addressed."

The assaults befell as threats and acts of intimidation in opposition to election employees and public officers surged throughout the nation after President Donald Trump and his allies known as into query the result of the 2020 presidential election.

Prosecutors mentioned Peña resorted to violence within the perception {that a} "rigged" election had robbed him of victory in his bid to serve within the state Legislature.

The shootings focused the houses of officers together with two county commissioners after their certification of the 2022 election, wherein Peña misplaced by practically 50 proportion factors. Nobody was injured, however in a single case bullets handed via the bed room of a state senator's 10-year-old daughter.

Two different males who had acknowledged serving to Peña with the assaults had beforehand pleaded responsible to federal fees and acquired yearslong jail sentences. ___ This story was up to date to right that Peña's legal professionals sought a jail time period of 60 years, not 5 years.