Alleged accomplice in federal witness murder takes plea

One of two men indicted for gunning down a former federal witness in Las Vegas, New Mexico, in July 2019 has pleaded guilty, less than a month before his co-defendant goes to trial on charges that include committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering.

Defendant Gary Coca, 51, stated in his federal plea agreement that his co-defendant, Robert “Fat Head” Padilla, 46, wanted to kill the victim, Leroy “Smurf” Lucero, in retaliation for Lucero providing information to law enforcement.

“Robert Padilla directed me to shoot a firearm at L.L. (Lucero) and I did so, striking L.L.,” the plea agreement states. “Subsequently, Robert Padilla shot L.L. and L.L. died as a result of being shot. Thus, I aided and abetted Robert Padilla in the killing of L.L.”

Padilla has pleaded not guilty.

Lucero was fatally shot in his driveway about 14 months after he testified against several members of the Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico prison gang in a lengthy racketeering trial of multiple SNM members in Las Cruces.

Lucero’s 12-year-old son ran out of the house at the time of the shooting and saw what happened, court records state. Before he died, Lucero crawled toward his house and told his wife he had been shot and to call for help.

Coca, who was indicted along with Padilla, faced the sole charge of retaliating against a witness, victim or informant. Padilla, however, is charged with seven additional crimes, including killing while engaged in drug trafficking.

Padilla has been accused of being an associate, not a member, of the SNM. His defense attorneys have challenged the allegation that Padilla has any connection to the prison gang.

Back in 2018, Lucero was among multiple former SNM members and leaders called by federal prosecutors to testify about the inner workings of the SNM gang and its violent criminal history. Most all said they knew that by testifying, they would be targeted by the SNM for death because they violated a cardinal gang rule of not cooperating with law enforcement.

According to federal records, on the night of his death, Lucero, 48, went outside his house to talk to people who pulled up in a dark sedan.

As he stood by the passenger side of the car, Lucero was shot once. Padilla is alleged to have exited the vehicle and fired a second time before fleeing with Coca, who was also in the car, records allege.

Coca’s plea agreement makes no mention of the sentence he might receive, and no sentencing date has been set.

It wasn’t clear whether Coca, who has multiple convictions for violent crimes, may be called to testify against Padilla at trial, which starts Dec. 4 in Las Cruces. Coca’s attorney couldn’t be reached for comment.

To date, more than 160 SNM members or associates have been arrested in the massive racketeering investigation, and 11 are serving life prison sentences related to convictions for committing murders as part of the SNM criminal enterprise.

Court records state that, after his work as a government witness in the case, Lucero began using heroin again. He was also selling heroin for Padilla, according to an FBI search warrant affidavit filed in 2019. Lucero, Padilla and Coca all lived in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

FBI agents who had investigated the SNM fanned out across northern New Mexico to find Lucero’s killers, with help from New Mexico State Police, New Mexico Corrections Department and the Las Vegas Police Department.

At the time of the shooting, the DEA had been investigating Padilla and his alleged drug trafficking organization, which operated in central and northern New Mexico, court records allege. He and 11 others were indicted in September 2019 on charges that included possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine. That case is pending.

While Padilla was in custody in that case, FBI agents investigating Lucero’s fatal shooting asked to interview him. During that meeting, Padilla brought up Lucero by his nickname “Smurf” and denied shooting him, according to court testimony. He told the agents he had five witnesses who would say that he was elsewhere at the time Lucero was killed.