Alleged chronic offender to be held through federal trial in Las Cruces

LAS CRUCES — A federal judge ordered Neal Garcia, 43, to remain in custody ahead of his trial on six counts of Hobbs Act robbery.

Garcia, who waived a Friday detention hearing, is accused of a string of incidents between November 2022 and April of this year involving shoplifting, assaulting store employees and property damage.

The businesses include Walmart, grocery stores, an electronic games store and a gas station convenience store. Garcia is accused of threatening and assaulting employees who confront him for stealing, in one case threatening a worker with a baseball bat.

Separately, Garcia was charged in 2024 and again last summer for allegedly smashing windows at Las Cruces City Hall, only for the cases to be dismissed in court.

Federal prosecutors and Las Cruces police say he has been arrested more than 70 times and is usually released, and his criminal cases are dismissed, under state district court rules about competency. Garcia has repeatedly been found incompetent to stand for trial yet not committed for treatment of behavioral health issues, according to court records and recent public messages by Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story.

In response to a public appeal from Story, New Mexico’s acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and the FBI collaborated with LCPD to bring criminal charges against Garcia in a federal proceeding. Ellison said Thursday that Garcia could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The Hobbs Act addresses robbery and acts of extortion that affect interstate commerce and trade. Although the alleged crimes all took place within the city of Las Cruces, the criminal complaint invokes Hobbs by stating Garcia’s actions disrupted the businesses’ flow of goods and revenue across state lines.

Garcia’s public defense attorney, Andre Courtney Poissant, told the Journal he would “review the Hobbs Act allegations to ensure they are appropriate.”

”We are going to do our best for Mr. Garcia,” he continued. “I am concerned that he needs help, as the government indicated in its social media post … so we are looking at that as well.”