Aug. 13 (Reuters) – A failed Republican candidate in New Mexico was jailed for 80 years Wednesday after a 2022 election defeat after signing a gunman to launch a drive-by shooting at a Democrat’s home.
Solomonpena coordinated the attack in Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city, weeks after losing its state capitol bid. He was driven by a conspiracy theory in which he was a victim of election fraud, federal prosecutors said.
Pena was convicted earlier this year on 13 felony charges in attacks on four officials in December 2022 and January 2023, including current state legislators.
No one was injured in the shooting. This followed other politically motivated violence, including the hammer attack on the husband of Nancy Pelosi of the United States.
“Violence and threats do not exist in our election,” U.S. lawyers for New Mexico’s Ryan Ellison said in a post-ruling statement.
Pena’s attorney, Nicholas Hart, said his client would appeal the conviction.
Two men who said they were hired by Pena for the attack pleaded guilty in 2024.
After he was not elected, Pena pressed members of the Bernarillo County Commission to not prove the outcome. When they refused, Pena recruited Jose Trujillo and Demetrio Trujillo to carry out the shooting, prosecutors said.
False and unfounded claims of election fraud have exploded after President Donald Trump refused to accept his defeat in the 2020 US presidential election.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay, Editing by Kate Mayberry)
