ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Two law enforcement officials including former Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office sheriff Manny Gonzales and former Laguna Police Chief Rudy Mora are implicated in a gun-running scheme spanning multiple states. Gonzales and Mora, who was at one time Gonzales’ undersheriff, are not indicted at this point.
According to federal documents, they helped gun dealers obtain machine guns that are only legal for law enforcement purposes and illegal for sale to private citizens. The federal indictment was filed in Maryland against a handful of gun dealers and law enforcement officials in other states.
It says those officials, along with Gonzales and Mora, provided letters saying the guns would be used for law enforcement demonstrations and other legitimate purposes when in fact, the intent all along was to sell them to private parties or keep them for personal use. In Albuquerque, one gun dealer, Woody’s Weapons, was named in the indictment.
News 13 reached out to Gonzales, Mora, and Woody’s Weapons. We did not receive a callback.
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office sent out a statement Thursday:
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office is aware of a recent indictment of law enforcement officials by the US Attorney’s Office in Maryland, which mentions former BCSO Sheriff “M.G.” and “R.M.,” the former police chief of Pueblo Laguna as participants in an alleged illegal machine gun distribution scheme. Sheriff Allen takes such allegations seriously and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office has been in communication with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the US Attorney’s Office in Maryland, and New Mexico, as well as the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office regarding this matter. Under the leadership of Sheriff John Allen, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office is devoted to ensuring we cooperate with all partners to investigate any form of corruption.
Jayme Fuller-Gonzales, Public Information Coordinator, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office
