Source: Office of United States Attorneys
ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced today that William Valencia pleaded guilty in federal court to escape from custody. Valencia, 33, of Paguete, New Mexico, will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled.
Valencia was convicted in January 2020 for assault of an intimate partner by strangling and suffocating and sentenced to 75 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Valencia was placed at the Dismas Charities Diersen Residential Reentry Center in Albuquerque to serve the last 6 months of his custodial sentence. On July 27, 2023, Valencia left the facility without permission and failed to return. On Oct. 6, 2023, Valencia was arrested by the Albuquerque Police Department for possession of a controlled substance and was taken into federal custody on Oct. 10, 2023.
At sentencing, Valencia faces up to five years in prison.
The United States Marshals Service investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Jesse Pecoraro prosecuted the case.
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