Failed GOP candidate gets 80-year sentence for arranging shootings at elected NM Democrats' homes

Source: Source New Mexico

PATRICK LOHMANN
AUGUST 13, 2025
3:06 PM

A failed Republican political candidate whose conspiracy theory about a stolen state House election prompted him to orchestrate shootings at homes of elected New Mexico Democrats will spend 80 years in prison, a federal judge ordered Wednesday.

A jury in March found Peña guilty of enlisting a man and his adult son to repeatedly shoot up homes of four elected Democratic officials in December 2022 and January 2023 after he refused to accept defeat. He was also convicted of recruiting fellow inmates he was in jail with while awaiting trial to kill his codefendants.

A jury ruled that Peña also orchestrated the shootings at the homes of other elected Democrats, including Bernalillo County Commissioners Adriann Barboa and Debbie O’Malley, who is now a state senator, as well as House Speaker Javier Martinez.

In addition to the 80-year sentence, Peña will face a $250,000 fine. The judge, whom Trump appointed in 2019, noted that Peña’s career as a “storm-chaser” meant he was not indigent and therefore capable of paying the fine. According to the judge and prosecutors, that profession defrauds insurance companies by billing them for overpriced and unnecessary repairs after natural disasters.

Read more: https://sourcenm.com/2025/08/13/failed-gop-candidate-gets-80-year-sentence-for-arranging-shootings-at-elected-nm-democrats-homes/