A Durango man suspected of escaping from the La Plata County Jail and shooting a Farmington Police Department officer will face a federal firearms charge before being prosecuted for the shooting, according to prosecutors and legal filings.
Elias Buck, 23, had been charged earlier this year with aggravated battery on a peace officer with a deadly weapon, among other charges, in San Juan County, New Mexico. But those charges have been dismissed to allow the federal case to play out, said Dustin O’Brien, chief deputy district attorney with New Mexico’s 11th Judicial District.
A federal grand jury indicted Buck on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, said Scott Howell, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Albuquerque. He is scheduled for an administrative hearing May 5.
In state court, Buck faced six years in prison for assault on a peace officer and 18 months for tampering with evidence, O’Brien said. He faced only three years in prison for being in possession of a firearm.
“Believe it or not, he’s looking at more time on the federal firearm charges than he is for shooting a police officer in the state of New Mexico,” O’Brien said.
Once the federal case is adjudicated, state prosecutors have 120 days to refile charges in the officer-involved shooting case, O’Brien said.
“When the federal government is done prosecuting him, we will then refile our charges that don’t involve the firearm, and he will be prosecuted in state court,” he said.
If he is convicted, a state court judge would have the option to sentence Buck to a concurrent sentence (served at the same time as the federal sentence) or consecutive sentence (served after a federal sentence), O’Brien said.
“Assuming we gain a conviction, then that’s what we would be asking for (a consecutive sentence) so that he would serve his entire federal sentence before he started serving the New Mexico sentence,” he said.
The public defender’s office in San Juan County declined to comment for this story. Buck’s federal public defender did not respond to a request for comment.
Christian Champagne, 6th Judicial District Attorney in La Plata County, did not respond to questions about whether Buck will face charges in Colorado for the alleged escape and vehicle theft.
Buck was first arrested late last year on suspicion of motor vehicle theft. While at the La Plata County Jail, he allegedly climbed a perimeter fence and escaped Dec. 27.
Eleven days later, he allegedly shot Farmington police officer Joseph Barreto in the right arm as the officer approached Buck and his girlfriend, Victoria “Rossi” Hernandez, about a possible drunken driving incident. Barreto returned fire, but none of the gunshots hit Buck.
Buck spent another seven days on the run, but was eventually captured by law enforcement on Jan. 14 at a Quiktrip Convenience Store in Phoenix.
O’Brien said Barreto and the Farmington Police Department have been made aware of how the cases are being prosecuted, and they are OK with it.
“This way allows for him to face more time, more penalty in the long run than if we (the state) had prosecuted first,” O’Brien said.
shane@durangoherald.com
