Prosecutors tweak charges against Solomon Peña as his federal trial looms

Just five weeks from the start of trial, Solomon Peña pleaded not guilty this week to a new indictment intended to more closely tie his actions to federal elections.

The second superseding indictment appears to be a response to a defense challenge to the federal charges Peña faces.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin March 10 in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque on charges alleging Peña orchestrated a string of shootings at the homes of Democratic elected officials following the 2022 election.

He faces 13 federal charges, including multiple felony counts of using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime. One count alleges he used and discharged a machine gun. U.S. District Judge Kea W. Riggs is presiding.

Peña, who remains in federal custody, faces a potential life sentence if convicted on those charges.

Peña, dressed in an orange-and-white striped prison uniform, appeared Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Robbenhaar, where he pleaded not guilty to a second superseding indictment that added no additional charges.

The new indictment “is also substantially identical to the first superseding indictment,” but includes three sections alleging that “elections in Bernalillo County were mixed elections for both state and federal candidates,” prosecutors wrote in a notice filed in federal court.

The new indictment appears to be a response to a constitutional challenge to the federal charges filed in December by Peña’s attorney, Nicholas Hart.

The motion asks a judge to dismiss nine of the 13 counts, arguing that Peña shouldn’t be charged with federal crimes because his alleged actions dealt only with Bernalillo County elections, not federal elections.

The motion argues that Peña’s alleged actions are violations of state law and could be tried in state District Court, where Peña initially was charged in January 2023. The 2nd Judicial District Court charges were dismissed in June 2023 after he was charged in federal court.

Peña’s actions include “an alleged shooting of four residences all located in Albuquerque, that belonged to four local politicians, who had served in the past as election officials or candidates for purely local offices,” Hart wrote in the motion.

Federal prosecutors allege that Peña was motivated by his November 2022 election loss to state Rep. Miguel Garcia, a Democratic incumbent, by a nearly 50% margin.

Peña, the Republican challenger, later said on social media that he believed the election was “rigged.”

Prosecutors allege Peña paid two co-defendants to help target the homes of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa, former commissioner Debbie O’Malley, House Speaker Javier Martínez and state Sen. Linda Lopez.

No one was injured in the incidents, but a bullet penetrated the bedroom where Lopez’s daughter, then 10, was sleeping. The case garnered national media attention.

Peña is also accused of hiring co-defendants Demetrio Trujillo, 42, and his son, Jose Trujillo, 22, to help carry out the shootings. Both of the Trujillos pleaded guilty last year to multiple federal charges and face sentences of up to life in prison.