Feds say Las Cruces man documented firearm sale on Instagram

LAS CRUCES — An Instagram message effectively served as a receipt for an illegal handgun sale, according to a federal criminal complaint charging a Las Cruces man with receiving a firearm while under indictment in a different case.

Anthony Jacob Lopez, 19, was implicated in an investigation that began when a gunshot victim was dropped off on Aug. 31 at MountainView Regional Medical Center in Las Cruces, according to the complaint.

Local law enforcement agencies looking for the car that dropped the patient off found it at an intersection on the north side of town where “multiple people with firearms” had gathered. At the scene, officers conducted a consensual search of a car where Lopez had been a passenger. They discovered a 9mm Glock handgun along with a 17-round magazine, according to the complaint.

Lopez’s defense attorney did not immediately respond to a query from the Journal.

A Las Cruces police detective who works with the FBI Safe Streets Gang Task Force obtained a warrant to search Lopez’s phone and Instagram activity. Police say they found messages between Lopez and an unnamed Instagram user who offered in July to sell Lopez the gun and magazine for $600. The user sent pictures of the gun including its serial number, matching the weapon obtained in the car search.

Four days later, Lopez allegedly wrote to the user on Instagram: “Appreciate dat heater too brudda good ass deal,” which the detective said confirmed the transaction.

Police recovered more photographs and videos featuring the gun they say were taken with Lopez’s phone at or near his residence in the weeks following the transaction.

Possessing a firearm would violate terms of Lopez’s supervised release in a prior case in Texas, forbidding him from possessing or transporting firearms. Lopez received a deferred sentence for human smuggling in a Texas federal court, the complaint states. Formally, Lopez remains under indictment until completion of that sentence.

Jail records indicate Lopez was arrested Oct. 21 and remains in custody pending his trial after federal District Judge Damian Martinez found that Lopez had previously violated probation conditions and has charges pending in a different court.