Jury convicts alleged drug dealer in SNM cooperator's slaying

A 46-year-old alleged New Mexico drug trafficker is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison after a federal jury convicted him on Tuesday of gunning down a government witness who helped in the prosecution of the notorious Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico gang.

The jury deliberated for about four hours before finding Robert C. Padilla, also known as "Fat Head," guilty of killing Leroy "Smurf" Lucero, 48, outside his Las Vegas, New Mexico, mobile home in July 2019.

Lucero, a former SNM member, had testified in 2018 about the inner workings of the SNM and its criminal enterprises in and out of New Mexico prisons in a massive multi-year prosecution initiated by the FBI in Albuquerque.

Two dozen former SNM members who joined Lucero in denouncing the gang life on the witness stand all conceded their cooperation with law enforcement was tantamount to a death sentence.

Padilla, whose sentencing has not been set, is the 13th defendant convicted of federal racketeering crimes that carry an automatic life sentence.

Padilla isn't an SNM member but was portrayed by federal prosecutors as an associate of the SNM. He was convicted of violent crimes in aid of racketeering, retaliating against a witness, killing while engaged in drug trafficking, causing death through the use of a firearm, witness tampering and other crimes.

Padilla is also facing numerous drug trafficking charges filed after a two-year U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigation that coincided with the FBI's murder investigation of Lucero's death.

Padilla's attorneys denied he fatally shot Lucero. Padilla, who didn't testify, previously told FBI agents he was with a girlfriend.

During the weeklong trial in Las Cruces, Padilla's alleged accomplice, Gary Coca, testified that the two pulled up to Lucero's home in Padilla's black Honda before midnight on July 22, 2019, and Padilla honked the horn to summon Lucero.

Padilla pulled out a pistol and tried to shoot Lucero when he approached the car. Padilla gave the gun to Coca when it failed to fire. Coca ended up firing a shot at Lucero, who dropped to the ground, Coca testified.

Padilla then got out of the car and shot Lucero a second time as he tried to crawl back to his trailer, Coca told the jury.

Coca, who pleaded guilty in November to retaliating against a witness, said Padilla suspected Lucero was a "rat" who testified for the government, and Padilla and Lucero had argued over it prior to Lucero's death.

To date, about 170 SNM members or associates have been arrested as part of the sweeping federal prosecution that began in 2015 after SNM leaders plotted to kill top state Corrections Department officials. The FBI foiled the plot, but the investigation continued.

The primary aim, according to previous testimony from lead FBI case agent Bryan Acee, was to dismantle the gang and its influence.

In the process, the FBI re-examined cold-case homicides committed by members and associates. To date, 12 such homicides, excluding Lucero's, have been solved and SNM members or associates convicted.

The gang, which formed after the deadly 1980 riot at the Penitentiary of New Mexico near Santa Fe , grew to nearly 500 members at one time.

The SNM criminal enterprise engaged in racketeering activity through murder, robbery, extortion, trafficking in narcotics and other crimes. Members were expected to help the gang in its criminal endeavors even after they were released from prison.

Padilla has no prior history of violent crimes or drug convictions.

But while awaiting trial at the Cibola County Correctional Center near Grants, Padilla was deemed a "direct threat" to safety and security, according to a June 2022 letter from the facility's warden. The letter was filed in Padilla's federal case.

"Padilla has been repeatedly named as part of a group who are affiliating under the name of `Nuevo' at CCC," the warden wrote.

According to the letter:

• Padilla had assumed the role of leader of the group, which required incoming inmates to present their court documents. Padilla's group inspected the documents for evidence of cooperation with authorities and/or criminal conduct deemed unacceptable, such as child molestation.

• Members of the group were collecting "taxes" for inmates' use of the phone, access to showers and, at times, the commissary and were actively working in concert to introduce narcotics at the prison.

• "Nuevo" members were assaulting other inmates, and Padilla had been delivering threats to inmates deemed to be no "good."

During interviews conducted at the prison, the warden added, "several inmates specifically identified Robert Padilla as an individual they need protection from."

Padilla was subsequently transferred to the Penitentiary of New Mexico, described as the state Correction's Department's only super-max facility.