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Dominic De La O, convicted of the murder of Alamogordo’s officer Ferguson, plead guilty in Federal court this week to federal gun charges.
In a press release from the US Department of Justice, New Mexico officials stated that Dominic De La O plead guilty pleaded guilty to possessing a modified shotgun that was used in the fatal shooting of Alamogordo Police Officer Anthony Ferguson on July 15, 2023.
Per a release according to court documents, on July 15, 2023, Dominic De La O, 28, possessed a modified 12-gauge shotgun with a barrel length of less than 16 inches and an overall length of less than 26 inches, making it subject to registration under federal law. De La O admitted that the modified shotgun was operable and not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. He also acknowledged that the firearm lacked the new serial number required by law for modified weapons.
On that date, De La O used the shotgun to shoot and kill Alamogordo Police Officer Anthony Ferguson during a traffic stop.
Jonah Apodaca was subsequently charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm after the ATF determined that he had provided the modified shotgun to De La O. Apodaca pled guilty to the charges on June 18, 2024, and was sentenced to 72 months in federal prison.
De La O will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled. At sentencing, De La O faces up to 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. In November 2024, a jury in New Mexico’s Twelfth Judicial District convicted De La O of murdering Officer Ferguson and a judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Acting U.S. Attorney Holland S. Kastrin, and Brendan Iber, Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, made the announcement.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated this case with assistance from the Alamogordo Police Department, New Mexico State Police, and the Otero County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maria Y. Armijo and Ry Ellison are prosecuting the case
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