Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

ALBUQUERQUE – Marquis Pounds, 28, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court to 84 months in prison for being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. Pounds will be on supervised release for three years after completing his term of incarceration.

Pounds was arrested in June 2015, on a criminal complaint alleging that he unlawfully possessed a firearm and ammunition on June 5, 2015, in Bernalillo County, N.M. According to the criminal complaint, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on Pounds’ residence in northeast Albuquerque and seized a revolver and ammunition. Subsequent investigation revealed that revolver and ammunition had been reported stolen from a pawn shop in Los Lunas, N.M. Pounds was subsequently indicted on July 14, 2015, on the same charge.

According to court documents, Pounds was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he previously had been convicted of receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, tampering with evidence, possession of narcotics with intent to distribute, conspiracy to possess narcotics with intent to distribute, and embezzlement.

On Dec. 17, 2015, Pounds pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that on June 5, 2015, he possessed a firearm despite the fact that he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because of his status as a convicted felon.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Albuquerque Police Department, the Raton Police Department and the Los Lunas Police Department with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Presiliano A. Torrez prosecuted the case under a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders primarily based on their prior criminal convictions for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible. Because New Mexico’s violent crime rate, on a per capita basis, is one of the highest in the nation, New Mexico’s law enforcement community is collaborating to target repeat offenders from counties with the highest violent crime rates, including Bernalillo County, N.M., under this initiative.