A failed Republican candidate has been sent to federal prison for 80 years for a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of New Mexico lawmakers.
Solomon Peña was convicted earlier this year of conspiracy, weapons and other charges in the shootings, which took place December 2022 and January 2023 at the homes of four Democratic officials, including the current state House speaker.
Prosecutors, who had sought a 90-year sentence, said Peña had shown no remorse for the incidents in Albuquerque.
They said he had hoped to cause political change by terrorizing people who held contrary views to him into being too afraid to take part in political life.
Peña’s lawyers had sought a five-year sentence, saying their client maintains that he is innocent of the charges.
They have said Peña was not involved in the shootings and that prosecutors were relying on the testimony of two men who bear responsibility and accepted plea agreements in exchange for leniency.
The attacks took place as threats and acts of intimidation against election workers and public officials surged across the country after President Donald Trump and his allies called into question the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Prosecutors said Peña resorted to violence in the belief that a “rigged” election had robbed him of victory in his bid to serve in the state legislature.
The shootings targeted the homes of several officials, including two county commissioners after their certification of the 2022 election, in which Peña lost by nearly 50 percentage points.
No one was injured. However, in one case bullets passed through the bedroom of a state senator’s 10-year-old daughter.
Two other men who had earlier acknowledged helping Peña with the attacks previously pleaded guilty to federal charges. Both received years-long prison sentences.
