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Stung by reversals in his office’s prosecution of the Reese family and mindful that scrutiny for his role in that case could derail his elevation to the federal bench, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Kenneth J. Gonzales filed three documents yesterday with the intent of denying a defense motion to dismiss outstanding counts and compel prosecutors to testify at an evidentiary hearing, and also to go over the head of U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Brack. “Notice is hereby given that the United States of America, plaintiff in this case, appeals to the United States Court...

The Senate Judiciary Committee “held over” the nomination of United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of New Mexico district yesterday. Nominated by President Barack Obama last November, Gonzales’s suitability for the post may be under scrutiny due to the way his office has handled the prosecution of the Reese family on gun and money laundering charges. These former Deming gun dealers have undergone a nightmare ordeal for the past year-and-a-half on charges they were ultimately acquitted of or had dismissed, except for a handful of remaining counts, where they were held...

Lawyers for embattled former Deming gun dealers Rick, Terri and Ryin Reese filed a motion last Wednesday in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico “to dismiss with prejudice the four remaining counts of the indictment.” The filing, co-signed by defense attorneys Robert J. Gorence, Jason Bowles, Brad D. Hall, and Peter V. Domenici Jr. moved for dismissal on counts “the Indictment pending against [the defendants] on the grounds that the Government has willfully or was recklessly negligent in not disclosing Giglio [“material tending to impeach the character or testimony of the prosecution witness in a...

Government prosecutors argued against granting bond to Deming, N.M., gun dealer Rick Reese and his son Ryin, painting them as dangerous risks for release, court documents received this evening by Gun Rights Examiner reveal. United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales, nominated by President Obama last November to serve on the U.S. District Court in the District of New Mexico, filed a supplement to the defendant’s motion for release in that court last Tuesday, citing an affidavit he claimed contained “statements relevant to the motion. “[T]hey highlight the Defendants release still pose a danger to the community,” Gonzales wrote in the...

Rick and Ryin Reese were released on bond yesterday afternoon, a source close to the case confirmed to Gun Rights Examiner last night. The father and son are part of a family of gun dealers jailed for allegedly knowingly selling guns to cartel members, but who were found not guilty on the most serious charges of conspiracy and had money laundering charges against them dismissed. They were convicted on a handful of lesser charges of making false statements on forms, basically under the presumption that they should have know federal agents were lying. Wife Terri was released on bond last...

This week the Reese family continues to wait for Rick and Ryin to be released from jail pursuant to Judge Brack’s Memorandum Opinion and Order last week granting a new trial. Underscoring the decision are allegations that Luna County Sheriff Deputy Alan Batts may have had incentive to lie under oath. Rick and Terri Reese and their two sons, Ryin and Remington Reese were arrested in August 2011. They were charged with 30 counts of criminal activity related to making false statements in connection with the sale of firearms, international weapons trafficking related to smuggling weapons to the Mexican cartel,...

Rick and Ryin Reese, gun dealers ordered to be released on bond by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico on Friday, have still not been allowed to go home, a source close to the case informed Gun Rights Examiner this evening. The father and son had to spend the weekend behind bars because the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Office has still not delivered the ankle monitors required by the bond release order. Rick and Ryin Reese are the last two members of a New Mexico gun dealer family jailed for allegedly knowingly selling guns to...

In addition to granting conditional release to Rick and Ryin Reese, the two remaining members of a New Mexico gun dealer family still behind bars after 18 months incarceration, Judge Robert C. Brack of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico has also granted a motion for a new trial, a Memorandum and Opinion Order filed today mandates. “This matter came before the Court on Defendants’ Motion for a New Trial … and Motion for Release on Conditions Pending Sentencing,” the order states. “On January 28, 2013, the Court held a hearing on these motions. Having...

Despite two orders from an obviously irked New Mexico U.S. District Court judge that the Reese family will be given a new trial and that father Rick and son Reese are to be released on bond, the pair remain behind bars this weekend because monitoring devices required by the order are not on hand, sources close to the case have confirmed to Gun Rights Examiner. “Yes, bail money is good for now,” the source reveled, explaining “relatives, good friends and well-wishers have donated to the defense fund. “They are waiting for the ankle monitors to get in for the release....

After 18 months behind bars, Rick and Ryin Reese have been granted bond today, Judge Robert C. Brack of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico ruled. They are the last two members of a New Mexico gun dealer family jailed for allegedly knowingly selling guns to cartel members, but who were found not guilty on the most serious charges of conspiracy and had money laundering charges against them dismissed. They were convicted on a handful of lesser charges of making false statements on forms, basically under the presumption that they should have know federal agents...

A decision on whether or not members of a New Mexico gun dealer family will get a new trial on charges of lying on federal firearm purchase forms could happen as early as this week, Las Cruces Sun-News reported yesterday. Judge Robert C. Brack of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico indicated in yesterday’s hearing that he will make his decision “soon” following a day of testimony that revealed the extent of corruption a key law enforcement witness against the Reese family was under investigation for – a fact the prosecution withheld from the defense...

A court order filed yesterday and obtained by Gun Rights Examiner in the case of U.S. vs. Reese has denied a motion by the prosecution to seal a hearing from the public. Defendants Rick and Terri Reese and son Ryin, New Mexico gun dealers jailed for allegedly knowingly selling guns to cartel members, and who have since had conspiracy and money laundering charges against them dismissed, have filed a motion for a new trial after being convicted of, as Jeff Knox of the Firearms Coalition described it, “the comparatively minor charge of lying on gun sales forms -- even though...

What started as a motion to release a former New Mexico gun dealer and his son from jail until their sentencing date for federal gun form convictions will turn into a request for a new trial, a source close to the case and courtroom observer of yesterday’s hearing in the United States District Court in Las Cruces, N.M., has informed Gun Rights Examiner. Another report, filed today by consistently informed and reliable chroniclers of the case, documents due process violations via information withheld from the defense, and reveals a key government witness against the family is himself under investigation. Rick...

Lawyers for Rick and Ryin Reese, New Mexico gun dealers imprisoned without bail for well over a year, “filed a motion to release them until their sentencing date,” a source close to the case informed supporters this morning. “The motion is set for [a hearing on] Tuesday, December 18, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. in the Federal Courthouse in Judge Brack's courtroom,” the source announced. “Anyone who can attend would be WONDERFUL,” the source continued. “If you can't be there, please keep us in your prayers for release of the guys after 477 days in jail.” “The Reese family, facing up...

Additional information investigated this afternoon by Gun Rights Examiner provided by a source close to the Reese case in Las Cruces, N.M., points to further questions about testimony given in that case, as well as further circumstantial tie-ins to two other high-profile gun trafficking cases. The Reese family were Deming gun dealers who were alleged to have knowingly sold guns to straw purchasers acting on behalf of Mexican cartels, arrested, imprisoned, had their assets seized, and who have since had conspiracy and money laundering charges against them dismissed. Sentencing for their August convictions for “making false statements” still has not...

Revelations by the Albuquerque Journal that ties existed between a Columbus, N.M., gun trafficking conspiracy and the Fast and Furious gunwalking operation highlight a disconnect with pretrial testimony given by an ATF agent in yet a third case, that of the Reese family, a tip received this morning by Gun Rights Examiner from a source close to the case suggests. “Federal prosecutors have sought to distance the Columbus gun smuggling case,” reporter Mike Gallagher revealed in a story filed last Thursday. “But reports obtained by the Journal show that in April 2010, federal agents were aware that the leader of...

Revelations by the Albuquerque Journal that ties existed between a Columbus, N.M., gun trafficking conspiracy and the Fast and Furious gunwalking operation highlight a disconnect with pretrial testimony given by an ATF agent in yet a third case, that of the Reese family, a tip received this morning by Gun Rights Examiner from a source close to the case suggests. “Federal prosecutors have sought to distance the Columbus gun smuggling case,” reporter Mike Gallagher revealed in a story filed last Thursday. “But reports obtained by the Journal show that in April 2010, federal agents were aware that the leader of...

Barack Obama has nominated U.S. Attorney for New Mexico Ken Gonzales to a lifetime appointment as a federal judge. This nomination is particularly significant because Gonzales was the U.S. attorney who oversaw the investigation, arrest and prosecution of the Reese family. At the time of the Reese’s arrest, Gonzales had the audacity to release a statement saying, “Those who sell firearms knowing that they will be illegally smuggled into Mexico to arm Mexican cartels share responsibility for the violence that has been devastating Mexico.” So far, he has not called for the prosecution of any of the federal agents or...

With money laundering conspiracy charges dismissed by the judge beforehand, verdicts were returned yesterday in the U.S. District Court in Las Cruces, N.M., on remaining charges against members of the Reese family, Deming gun dealers who have, for the past year, been fighting charges of knowingly selling to straw purchasers providing guns to Mexican cartels. Pronounced “not guilty” on the most damning charges, three family members still face a daunting legal threat. “All four family members, Remington, Terri, Rick Reese and Ryin Reese, were acquitted of one count of conspiracy and 17 counts of gun smuggling,” KVIA ABC7 reported, noting...

4:34 p.m. – LAS CRUCES – Jurors in the trial of a Deming-area family accused of selling weapons to buyers who shipped them to Mexico convicted three of four members of the Reese family of making false statements on federal forms related to gun sales. A fourth member of the family, Remington Reese, 20, was acquitted on six smuggling charges and a conspiracy charge as the jury voted not guilty on 24 of 28 charges against the family.