Failed Republican candidate jailed for 80 years over gun attacks on Democrats' homes
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A failed Republican candidate in New Mexico has been jailed for 80 years for contracting gunmen to carry out drive-by shootings on the homes of Democratic officials, after his 2022 election defeat.
Solomon Pena orchestrated the attacks in Albuquerque, New Mexico's largest city, weeks after losing his bid for a state house seat. He was driven by conspiracy theories he had been a victim of election fraud, federal prosecutors said.
Pena was convicted of 13 felony charges earlier this year for attacks on four officials in December 2022 and January 2023, including the current state house speaker.
No-one was hurt in the shootings, which followed other politically motivated violence, such as the hammer attack on the husband of US Representative Nancy Pelosi.
"Violence and intimidation have no place in our elections," US Attorney for New Mexico Ryan Ellison said following the sentencing.
Pena's lawyer, Nicholas Hart, said his client would appeal the conviction.
Two men who said they were hired by Pena for the attacks pleaded guilty in 2024.
After he failed to be elected, Pena pressured members of the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners not to certify the results. When they refused, Pena recruited Jose Trujillo and Demetrio Trujillo to carry out the shootings, prosecutors said.
False and unfounded claims of election fraud exploded, after President Donald Trump refused to accept defeat in the 2020 US presidential election.
- Reuters
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Photo: AFP But just because Maxwell now has some of these lower designations doesn't mean she'll get full access to what the camp at Bryan has to offer. Some of the programmes inmates want to participate in may not take her. For instance, the work release programme at the Bryan prison camp trains certified nursing assistants, according to several people familiar with the prison camp. The program is run by the Southern Careers Institute, an education company that screens applicants from the prison and won't allow inmates with certain charges to take part in the programme if they apply, a person familiar with the program told CNN. Canine Companions, which places puppies in federal prisons for inmates to train as service dogs, explicitly said it wouldn't allow Maxwell into the puppy programme at the prison camp. Currently, there are seven puppies (Names: Kianda, Lisa VII, Louise V, Mavis IV, Hector VII, Gator V) paired with a total of 15 inmate handlers at FPC Bryan. 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