Latest news with #NewMexico
Times
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Times
Inside Josh Kerr's training camp, a running mecca 5,000 miles from home
T he sun has yet to rise over the Sandia Mountains that provide a spectacular backdrop to his New Mexico home but Josh Kerr has already sent a video message to one of his training partners. 'Hope you're enjoying your lie-in,' he says to Brandon Miller, which is Kerr's way of letting the American know that today, like every other day, he means business. It is 5.30am and within four minutes Miller has fired back a message to his friend and tormentor. He too is up and preparing for a track session that will leave Britain's 1,500m world champion and double Olympic medal-winner seeking the shade of a tree while trying not to vomit. The exchange between Kerr and Miller is good-humoured but there is method to this early-morning madness. Kerr wants every workout to count and he endeavours to do this by creating a sense of competition among the professional runners who form the Brooks Beasts Track Club. 'We're not f***ing around here,' he says.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal prosecutors score first wins on NM border trespass cases
Jun. 19—The first two migrants convicted of trespassing into the so-called New Mexico National Defense Area this month should have known better. The two Mexican nationals had previously faced the same "novel" immigration-related trespassing charges just a month ago when they illegally crossed into the U.S. and were arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol in Doña Ana County. But like dozens of others caught in the Trump administration's new southern border enforcement crackdown, their misdemeanor trespassing charges didn't stick because of legal issues. So Eduardo Herrera-Juvencio and Andres De Los Santos-Martinez ended up being released from custody and deported back to Mexico, only to illegally cross into the same New Mexico military zone, west of the Santa Teresa port of entry, on June 1. This time, the defendants' prior prosecutions meant that they had been forewarned, making it more difficult to argue they didn't know they had stepped into the 60-foot-wide buffer zone, which was designated as a military property in mid-April. The U.S. Army assumed authority over a 170-mile-long buffer zone adjacent to the U.S.-Mexico border in New Mexico. A similar zone was created for a 63-mile-long strip in West Texas. Federal authorities charged the two men with reentry after deportation and the military trespass charges, which carry additional potential prison time of up to a year. On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Mexico announced the defendants had pleaded guilty to all three misdemeanors. "These first convictions reflect the resolve of the United States Attorney's Office to do its part in securing our nation's southern border," U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Ryan Ellison said in a statement. "I am tremendously proud of our staff in the Las Cruces branch office, the U.S. Border Patrol and the U.S. military for their relentless efforts to secure our southern border. New Mexico — and the entire country — is more secure because of these efforts." The men's federal public defenders couldn't be reached, and it wasn't clear from court records on Thursday when they will be sentenced. Over recent weeks, federal defense attorneys have argued that such prosecutions are flawed because of legal issues over whether migrants knew of the military restriction and whether federal prosecutors had probable cause to charge them. The rollout of the new federal enforcement strategy on the border has also faced pushback from several U.S. magistrate judges, who have found the military trespass charges defective. That includes Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth of Las Cruces, who in mid-May began to dismiss such charges in nearly 100 cases where defendants had also been charged with illegal entry, typically a first-time offense. Both De Los Santos-Martinez and Herrera-Juvencio had their military trespass charges dismissed at that time. In El Paso, in the first trial in such a case, a federal court jury on June 5 acquitted a Peruvian woman of the military trespass charges. But this week, an El Paso federal district court judge found an Ecuadorian man guilty of the trespass charge along with illegal entry. Since facing scrutiny over whether migrants are adequately warned they are entering a military defense zone on the border, charging documents give greater detail about where the defendant was caught and note that 1,100 warning signs are posted every 100 to 200 meters in the zone in Spanish and English. In Herrera-Juvencio's case, he had already walked through the defense area before he was captured 1,423 yards north of the international border, court records show. By that time, he was more than three-fourths of a mile from a posted sign, the records show. His criminal complaint states that after his first arrest on May 7, the U.S. Border Patrol provided him with a written notice in Spanish that any unauthorized entry into the restricted military area was prohibited and subject to federal prosecution. De Los Santos-Martinez also received the same notice after his first arrest, records state. Both men also pleaded guilty to re-entry after deportation.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Nine plead guilty to federal human smuggling charges, leader remains at large
Jun. 19—Nine members of what prosecutors describe as a human smuggling ring have entered guilty pleas in federal court, but the alleged leader of the group remains at large more than two years after his indictment. Ronaldo Galindo Lopez-Escobar, 74, and nine others were indicted in May 2023 in connection with a scheme to smuggle people from Central America into the U.S. across New Mexico's southern border, federal court records show. Lopez-Escobar, of Guatemala City, Guatemala, the alleged leader of the "Lopez crime family," so far has avoided arrest, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico said in a statement. Lopez-Escobar coordinated the smuggling of Central Americans through Mexico and through Luna and Hidalgo counties through a network of "foot guides, drivers and caretakers" in exchange for money, the indictment alleges. Illegal immigrants were shuttled through "stash houses" in Phoenix and elsewhere bound for destinations including Los Angeles, it alleges. Payments were made through peer-to-peer money transfer apps, including Zelle. The acts cited in the indictment date from October 2021 to April 2023. Nine people, all residents of Arizona and California, have pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces to conspiracy to bring in, transport and harbor illegal aliens. The scheme involved drivers who were instructed to pick up groups of undocumented immigrants at locations including Deming and Animas and take them to "stash locations" in exchange for a fee, the indictment said. On several occasions in 2021 and 2022, transport vehicles were stopped by Border Patrol agents, it said. Of the nine who have pleaded guilty, four have been sentenced to terms ranging from a year of probation to 45 months in prison. Sentencing hearings for the others are pending.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Man accused of killing former tenant and dumping body in East Mountains
Jun. 19—An Albuquerque man is accused of beating his former tenant to death with a bat and dumping his body in the East Mountains, where it was found by detectives Thursday morning. Derek DePalma, 40, was arrested Wednesday and was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center. He is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and kidnapping. Police have not identified the man who was killed. Officers responded to a 911 call Wednesday afternoon about a resident who captured video of a fight between DePalma and a man on her security camera in the 500 block of Aztec NW, according to the criminal complaint. The woman said DePalma is seen striking the man in the head with a bat and loading him into the bed of a pickup truck. The woman told police she saw the two arguing the morning before, and she knew the man, whom she described as "homeless," because she hired him to do yard work previously, the complaint states. Officers found DePalma's truck outside his home, which was across the street, with "what appeared to be blood" in the bed. Detectives were able to watch the altercation on the security video, ending when the body was loaded into the truck, according to the complaint. Officers arrested DePalma and spoke with his girlfriend, who said the couple had issues with the man, who was a tenant at the apartment complex the pair operated, the complaint states. She and DePalma had just evicted the man. Using DePalma's cellular data, officers obtained records that showed his phone traveled east on Interstate 40 near the Cedar Crest area. "Digital Intelligence investigators used information from phones to get a more precise location of where DePalma may have taken the victim's body," Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said in a news release Thursday. "Investigators located the body this morning as the sun came up." The body was found along Route 66, west of Sedillo Hill. Gallegos said DePalma was initially charged with aggravated battery with great bodily harm based on the video evidence. He said "detectives are working with the District Attorney's Office to modify the charges" after the body was found.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jon Jones Responds to Dana White's Deadline with Blunt Update
Jon Jones Responds to Dana White's Deadline with Blunt Update originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The UFC heavyweight title scene remains in limbo, and the suspense is starting to wear thin. Jon Jones, arguably the most dominant force in MMA history, still hasn't given the green light on a showdown with interim champ Tom Aspinall. While Dana White has been working behind the curtain to make it happen, the champ's latest comments suggest the UFC might be left hanging. And if White's tone is any indication, patience is running out. Advertisement During a recent appearance on The Jim Rome Show, Dana White didn't sugarcoat the situation. The UFC president confirmed the clock is very much ticking. Feb 15, 2020; Rio Rancho, New Mexico, USA; UFC fighter Jon Jones attends the light heavyweight bout between Jan Blachowicz (blue) and Corey Anderson (red) during UFC Fight Night at Santa Ana Star Arena.© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports 'We'll see how this thing plays out over the next couple of weeks. If we can't get this fight done, we'll move on quickly … We'll have answers in the next couple weeks.' When Rome pressed for a firm timeline, White held the line: 'A couple of weeks.' That's not exactly vague. The UFC is ready to move with or without Jones. But 'Bones' doesn't sound like a man feeling the heat. Speaking with Full Send Podcast, Jones delivered a response that felt more like a retirement tease than fight hype. 'I don't want to say that I'm retired because fighting is in my blood... but right now, I could really care less about fighting.' 'If the itch comes back—and if it comes back—then I'll do it with my whole heart.' On the subject of Tom Aspinall, Jones didn't mince words: 'He's just not in a position to excite me... If I whoop his ass, it's going to be the next guy. I've replayed this story so many times.' Translation? He's not in a rush. And with a decision looming in less than two weeks, White may be forced to pivot if Jones stays noncommittal. Whether that means elevating Aspinall or creating another interim detour, the UFC's heavyweight division can't afford to stay frozen. Advertisement This next move will be massive—not just for Dana White, but for the future of a division that's been stuck in neutral far too long. Related: UFC Abu Dhabi: Robert Whittaker Set to Face Fastest-Rising Middleweight Star in Legacy Fight Related: UFC Star Wants Dricus Du Plessis in Historic Africa vs. Africa Showdown This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 19, 2025, where it first appeared.
