U.S. Department of Justice

United States Attorney
District of New Mexico

District of New Mexico

www.justice.gov/usao/nm

For Immediate Release

October 17, 2011

Albuquerque Man Receives 235 Month Sentence for Unlawful Possession of Firearm and Ammunition

ALBUQUERQUE – This morning, Vernon Lee Baker, 54, was sentenced to a 235-month term of imprisonment for unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales. Baker will be on supervised release for three years after he completes his prison sentence. Baker, an Albuquerque resident, has been in federal custody since his arrest on February 24, 2009.

Baker was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in an indictment filed on July 22, 2008 that was superseded on October 21, 2009. According to the superseding indictment, Baker unlawfully possessed a shotgun and ammunition on June 4, 2008 in Bernalillo County. At the time, Baker was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because he previously had been convicted of at least four felony offenses in the Second Judicial District Court of the State of New Mexico: armed robbery; aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and bribery of a witness; robbery while armed with a deadly weapon; and aggravated assault against a household member. On April 21, 2011, a federal jury sitting in Albuquerque found Baker guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition after a three-day trial.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Albuquerque Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kimberly A. Brawley and Linda Mott.

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