New Mexicans should receive upwards of $32 million in restitution

SANTA FE – On Nov. 9, Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that a district court judge ruled New Mexicans should receive upwards of $32 million from FastBucks for their unfair and unconscionable business practices. First Judicial District Judge Francis J. Mathew ruled that FastBucks should pay the sum of $32,255,054.00 in restitution to the consumer borrowers who were taken advantage of by FastBucks’ business practices. The suit was brought by the Office of the Attorney General for violations of New Mexico law. This judgment is the conclusion of the damages phase of the litigation. The initial decision deciding...

Official: Sixth such threat in 2016

A bomb threat was called into McKinley County District Court on Nov. 4 — but for the sixth time this year, the situation was a false alarm.

McKinley County Attorney Doug Decker said a call came in between 8:30 am and 9:30 am and the building was immediately evacuated.

“Unfortunately, things like this do happen,” Decker said. “Each one of the threats remains under investigation.”

Decker said investigators believe the culprit is someone who either has a court date or some other pressing court matter and is probably afraid to face up to what may come out of the court situation. He said the matter is particularly bad when you have a...

Gallup resident Aaron Nez, 30, has been arrested and remains in custody at McKinley County Adult Detention Center in regards to his suspected role in a violent assault that occurred Nov. 2, according to jail reports.

The stabbing occurred outside of Burger King on 2400 E. Highway 66. Upon arrival at the scene, Officer Jeremy Shirley of the Gallup Police Department found the victim lying on the ground with a stab wound to the chest.

According the arrest affidavit, the victim said that she had been outside the Burger King when Nez approached her and began to harass her, blocking her entrance to the building and calling her names.

“I can kill you,” she said that he told her...

The man responsible for a string of Halloween robberies is currently at large, Gallup Police Department Captain Marinda Spencer said at press time, Nov. 10.

He’s wanted on a $10,000 cash-only bond.

Travis Pinto, 23, of Vanderwagen, faces three counts of robbery, seven counts of false imprisonment and one count of tampering with evidence following a string of armed robberies on Oct. 31.

In all, he made off with an iPad Pro and an undisclosed amount of cash.

The first robbery occurred just after 6 pm, when employees at the AT&T store on 815 Metro Ave called police with a report of a masked man with what appeared to be a handgun robbing the store. Reportedly, the man later identified...