ALBUQUERQUE
An Albuquerque man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of a shotgun at a Church’s Chicken in 2022, officials stated Monday.
Court documents reveal that on November 13, 2022, a couple was waiting at a Church’s Chicken drive-thru on Broadway Blvd SE when Joseph Dino Lopez, 59, approached their vehicle.
Appearing intoxicated, Lopez banged on their window and shouted at them.
Surveillance footage later showed Lopez retrieving a shotgun from a blue bag and confronting the couple in their parked car. After the male victim used pepper spray on him, Lopez loaded the shotgun and aimed it at them, prompting them to escape.
Lopez momentarily left to rinse off the pepper spray but was arrested by the Albuquerque Police Department upon his return to the scene.
The officers recovered the loaded shotgun from the blue bag and found additional ammunition in his shirt pocket.
Lopez, who had previously been convicted of nine felonies, will also undergo three years of supervised release after completing his prison term.
There is no parole in the federal system.
The Albuquerque Police Department investigated this case with assistance from the FBI Albuquerque Field Office.
This case was transferred from state to federal court through a collaboration with the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Through the agreement, Assistant District Attorneys are designated Special Assistant United States Attorneys (SAUSAs) in the United States Attorney’s Office. The SAUSA from the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office screens felony criminal complaints filed in Bernalillo County for federal criminal offenses, prioritizing federal charges against those who drive violence in the Albuquerque metropolitan area.
Since 2020, the United States Attorney’s Office has reviewed almost 3,000 cases and charged more than 300 criminal cases pursuant to this program.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has similar agreements with the New Mexico Department of Justice and the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office and plans to expand the program throughout the state.