Source: United States Attorneys General
Headline: Hobbs Man Sentenced for Assaulting Federal Law Enforcement Officer
ALBUQUERQUE – Felipe T. Castillo, 38, of Hobbs, N.M., was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 21 months in prison for assaulting a federal law enforcement officer. Castillo will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.
Castillo was arrested on June 13, 2017, on a criminal complaint that charged him with being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to the complaint, Castillo pointed a firearm at a DEA task force officer on May 31, 2017, in Lea County, N.M. The complaint indicated that Castillo was on parole for a prior firearms offense when he assaulted the task force officer by pointing a firearm at him. Court documents indicate that Castillo previously had been convicted in Texas of engaging in organized criminal activity in 2000, and discharging a firearm in 2002.
On Aug. 23, 2017, Castillo pled guilty to a felony information charging him with assaulting a federal officer. In entering the guilty plea, Castillo admitted that on May 31, 2017, he pointed a firearm at a DEA task force officer who was engaged in his official duties.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces offices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and DEA, and the Hobbs Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Terri J. Abernathy and Dustin Segovia of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office prosecuted the case.