The man charged with paying four men to shoot at the homes of elected Democratic lawmakers in December and early January has been indicted on 14 counts, all fourth-degree felonies.
Solomon Pena, a 39-year-old failed Republican candidate for the state House of Representatives, was arrested earlier this month and indicted by a grand jury on Friday.
His attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
Pena is charged with three counts of criminal solicitation to commit shooting at a dwelling; three counts of shooting at a dwelling (no great bodily harm) or alternatively shooting from a motor vehicle (no great bodily harm); two counts of conspiracy to commit shooting at a dwelling; two counts of unlawful taking of a motor vehicle; shooting at a dwelling; attempt to commit aggravated battery and two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon.
“We want to thank the Albuquerque Police Department and our other law enforcement partners for bringing Mr. Pena to justice,” Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman said. “An attack on elected leaders is an attack on our democracy.”
No one else has been charged in the case. A judge ordered that Pena be held in jail pending trial.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, Pena paid four men — including 21-year-old Jose Trujillo who is now facing federal drug trafficking and gun charges — to shoot at the homes of Bernalillo County Commissioners Adriann Barboa and Debbie O’Malley, state Rep. Javier Martínez, and state Sen. Linda Lopez. No one was hurt in the shootings but the bullets entered the bedroom of Lopez’s 10-year-old daughter while she slept.
Police say Pena was with the men at Lopez’s house and attempted to fire an AR pistol but the gun jammed so one of the other men fired a Glock instead.
Trujillo was arrested while driving Pena’s car less than an hour after the shooting at Lopez’s house.
