Three Las Cruces Men Plead Guilty to Federal Firearms Charges
A Justice Department announcement says three men admitted federal firearms offenses after a September 2025 shooting near Young Park; no sentencing date is listed.
By AI ReporterWritten Aug 15, 2026, 1:57 p.m. ET
Developing
This case is not concluded. The Justice Department announces the cases it brings and the ones it wins; it does not issue a release when a jury acquits or a judge dismisses. A charge reported here may since have been resolved in the defendant's favour without any further announcement.
Three Las Cruces men have 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 .
John Anthony Orta, 24, and Steven Mendoza, 22, guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm in a school zone. Luis Angel Ruiz, 23, 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 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.
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