The Pueblo Police Department’s Special Investigation Division, through their participation in the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, has focused on investigating street gang related violent crime for several years. These investigations have led to the arrest and conviction of multiple defendants through the federal court process during this time.
Over the last two years, the following convictions have been obtained. These are federal convictions only, and sentencing in federal court is by months, not years.
 | Name: | Leonard Cordova (45) | Crime: | Menacing & Possession of a Weapon by a Previous Offender (POWPO) | Sentence: | 151 months | Leonard Cordova was arrested several times for State felony charges, but would subsequently bond out and re-offend, committing more felonies, to include attempted murder and felony assault. These cases were adopted by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and federal charges were filed. |
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 | Name: | Thomas Nededog (24) | Crime: | Possession of a Weapon by a Previous Offender (POWPO) & Robbery | Sentence: | 96 months | Thomas Nededog was arrested for a series of Armed Robberies, state felonies, but due to his extensive violent history and gang involvement, these cases were adopted by the FBI Safe Streets Task force and federal charges were levied against him. |
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 | Name: | Eduardo Montoya (21) | Crime: | Possession of a Weapon by a Previous Offender (POWPO) & Robbery | Sentence: | 84 months | Eduardo Montoya was arrested for a series of Armed Robberies, state felonies, but due to his extensive violent history and gang involvement, these cases were adopted by the FBI Safe Streets Task force and federal charges were levied against him. |
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 | Name: | Bryce Ming (26) | Crime: | Robbery & Possession of a Weapon by a Previous Offender (POWPO) | Sentence: | 240 months | Bryce Ming was arrested for state felony charges following a crime spree that included armed robbery, felony assault, carjacking, shooting at witnesses and firing at Pueblo Police Officers as he was pursued following this crime spree. |
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 | Name: | Kenneth Baca (45) | Crime: | Drug Distribution | Sentence: | 192 months | Kenneth Baca was already on federal probation when he once again re-offended by being arrested with a large amount of narcotics. Due to his extensive history and the charges against him, federal charges were filed. |
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 | Name: | John Cruz (62) | Crime: | Possession of a Weapon by a Previous Offender (POWPO) & Drug Distribution | Sentence: | 120 months | John Cruz has an extensive criminal history and was arrested with a large amount of narcotics and a firearm. He was initially arrested for state felony charges, but the charges were later filed in federal court. |
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 | Name: | Perry Lohnes (39) | Crime: | Possession of a Weapon by a Previous Offender (POWPO) & Robbery | Sentence: | 132 months | Perry Lohnes was Involved in two armed robberies locally, which were initially filed as state charges. Due to his extensive criminal history, these charges were filed in federal court following an extensive investigation. |
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 | Name: | Angel Castro (29) | Crime: | Possession of a Weapon by a Previous Offender (POWPO) | Sentence: | 120 months | Angel Castro’s extensive history and heavy gang involvement. He was Initially arrested for state POWPO, but NIBINS forensic evidence showed the firearm he was in possession of was involved in an attempted homicide in Pueblo. Charges were then filed in federal court. |
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 | Name: | Chad Shephard (44) | Crime: | Possession of a Weapon by a Previous Offender (POWPO) & Drug Distribution | Sentence: | 60 months | Chad Shepard is a white supremacist gang member with an extensive criminal history along with gang involvement. He was arrested for possession of a large amount of narcotics and four firearms. |
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 | Name: | Joseph Carillo (42) | Crime: | Possession of a Weapon by a Previous Offender (POWPO) & Drug Distribution | Sentence: | 180 months | Joseph Carrillo is a known gang member with an extensive criminal history. He was involved in eluding detectives from our Special Investigation Division (SID). This involved separate cases. In the first case, he was in possession of a firearm. Carillo was a convicted felon, but due to legislative changes at the state level, he did not qualify for state POWPO charges. After a follow-up investigation by SID Detectives, a search warrant was executed on his vehicle which produced a large amount of narcotics and a fully automatic pistol. The charges from this case were filed directly in federal court. |
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 | Name: | Sean Pearce (57) | Crime: | Possession of a Weapon by a Previous Offender (POWPO) & Drugs | Sentence: | 120 months | Sean Pearce is involved with an outlaw motorcycle gang and had extensive criminal history, including being involved in disposing of a body after a murder. SID Detectives were able to obtain a search warrant for his residence and it produced a large amount of methamphetamine and a pistol. Initially arrested for state felony charges but was moved to federal court. |
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There are numerous other cases pending against at least 12 other defendants that have been charged in federal court. Further updates will be released as these pending cases are adjudicated.
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