Three Las Cruces Men Plead Guilty to Federal Firearms Charges
Three New Mexico men have pleaded guilty to federal firearms charges following a September 2025 shooting investigation near a school.
3 reports on this incident · first at Aug 15, 2026, 1:54 p.m. ET
Earlier reports
Aug 15, 2026, 1:57 p.m. ET
Three Las Cruces Men Plead Guilty to Federal Firearms Charges
Three Las Cruces men have pleaded guilty to federal firearms charges following a September 2025 shooting investigation near Young Park and Hermosa Heights Elementary School, according to a press release issued on August 14, 2026 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico, release number 26-241.
John Anthony Orta, 24, and Steven Mendoza, 22, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm in a school zone. Luis Angel Ruiz, 23, pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm in a school zone and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
According to court records described in the release, Las Cruces Police Department officers responded to reports of shots fired at Young Park on September 6, 2025, and recovered numerous shell casings from the parking lot. Officers shortly afterward encountered Orta and Mendoza walking near Hermosa Heights Elementary School carrying loaded firearms — Orta a handgun, Mendoza a partially disassembled pistol loaded with two rounds. Both men admitted they knowingly possessed the firearms within 540 feet of school property. Both were intoxicated and were initially arrested for Negligent Use of a Deadly Weapon under state law.
Investigators later executed search warrants for the two men's cell phones and reviewed social media messages discussing the shooting. Those messages identified Ruiz as the person who fired the shots at Young Park and claimed ownership of the pistol found on Mendoza, the release states; investigators say they corroborated that through eyewitness statements, social media posts depicting Ruiz with the firearm, and ballistic evidence.
On September 24, 2025, Las Cruces police stopped Ruiz for traffic violations and arrested him for driving under the influence. Officers recovered four firearms from the vehicle, including a handgun with an obliterated serial number. Ruiz admitted the firearms belonged to him and later admitted he knew the serial number had been obliterated. Investigators also recovered social media messages in which Ruiz attempted to sell the firearm, according to the release.
The record lists the case at the guilty-plea stage; it does not report that any of the three men has yet received a punishment. For Mendoza, the release states that at sentencing, which has not been scheduled, he faces up to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. For Ruiz, the release states that at sentencing he faces up to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Those figures are the statutory ceilings available to the court, not terms anyone has been given.
The release is inconsistent on Orta. One line describes six months in prison followed by three years of supervised release as though it had already been imposed on him, while the same document records the matter at the pleaded stage and lists no sentencing date for any defendant. The six-month figure is reproduced here as the release gives it; the Justice Department announcement does not otherwise report a sentencing hearing for Orta.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement. The Las Cruces Resident Agency of the FBI's Albuquerque Field Office and its Southern New Mexico Safe Streets Gang Task Force investigated, with assistance from the Las Cruces Police Department's Street Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo is prosecuting the cases.
Aug 15, 2026, 1:54 p.m. ETFirst report
Three Las Cruces Men Plead Guilty to Federal Firearms Charges
Three Las Cruces men have pleaded guilty to federal firearm charges following an investigation into a September 6, 2025, shooting near Young Park and Hermosa Heights Elementary School, according to press release No. 26-241 issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico. That release, dated August 14, 2026, records the stage of the matter as pleaded and announces no sentencing hearing date. The announcement was made by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Albuquerque Field Office.
The release states that John Anthony Orta, 24, and Steven Mendoza, 22, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm in a school zone after Las Cruces Police Department officers encountered them walking near Hermosa Heights Elementary School carrying loaded firearms, and after both admitted knowingly possessing the firearms within 540 feet of school property. Orta was carrying a handgun; Mendoza was carrying a partially disassembled pistol loaded with two rounds of ammunition. Both men were intoxicated and were initially arrested for Negligent Use of a Deadly Weapon under state law, the release says.
No term of imprisonment described in the release has been imposed on Mendoza or Ruiz. For Mendoza, the release says that at a sentencing hearing that has not been scheduled he faces up to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release — a statutory maximum, that is, the ceiling the law allows a judge to reach, not a punishment anyone has received. For Orta, the release sets out a term of six months in prison followed by three years of supervised release; that passage sits uneasily with the same release's own recording of the matter as being at the pleaded stage, and the release identifies no date on which any such term was handed down.
Luis Angel Ruiz, 23, pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm in a school zone and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, the release says. Social media messages recovered from Orta's and Mendoza's cell phones under search warrants identified Ruiz as the person who fired the shots at Young Park and claimed ownership of the pistol found on Mendoza; investigators corroborated that through eyewitness statements, social media posts depicting Ruiz with the firearm, and ballistic evidence. On September 24, 2025, Las Cruces police stopped Ruiz for traffic violations and arrested him for driving under the influence, recovering four firearms from the vehicle, including a handgun with an obliterated serial number. Ruiz admitted the firearms were his and later admitted he knew the serial number had been obliterated. The release says that at sentencing, which has not been held, Ruiz faces up to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release — again a statutory maximum rather than a sentence imposed.
Officers responding to reports of shots fired at Young Park on September 6, 2025, recovered numerous shell casings from the parking lot, according to the release. The case was investigated by the Las Cruces Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office's Southern New Mexico Safe Streets Gang Task Force with assistance from the Las Cruces Police Department's Street Crimes Unit, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Y. Armijo.
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- Version 115 Aug 2026, 17:57current
First published.
- Version 115 Aug 2026, 17:54current
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- Version 115 Aug 2026, 18:14current
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