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LAS CRUCES - A final sentence has been handed down in the case of three gang members who shot then ran over a 27-year-old man in a brutal carjacking west of Placitas last year.
Third Judicial District Court Judge Lisa C. Schultz sentenced 24-year-old Juan Carlos Contreras of Roswell to nine years in prison and two years on parole, according to sentencing paperwork filed Wednesday in court. Schultz has also ordered the three men to pay about $9,000 in medical bills and $20,000 to the state's Crime Victims Reparation Commission
On July 19, 2009, Contreras, Robert Montenegro and Isaias Porras shot the victim in the head and ran him over after he stopped his SUV to turn on its four-wheel drive as he, his wife and her friend drove home from a dance in Salem, according to court documents. After stealing the Ford Bronco, the three then ran over the victim twice as they fled the area of Castaneda Road and N.M. Highway 26.
The three were captured after a seven-hour, two-county search by the Sierra and Do a Ana County sheriff's departments, the U.S. Border Patrol and the Hatch Police Department. The blood-spattered Bronco was recovered and the gun was found several weeks later alongside the desert road on the path of the police chase.
The victim, who was airlifted to University Medical Center in El Paso, is still recovering from his injuries, according to the district attorney's office.
Contreras was convicted almost a year ago of armed robbery, conspiracy and aggravated
Porras, 27, of Truth or Consequences was subsequently sentenced Aug. 27 to 18 years in prison. Montenegro, 25, was convicted in May and sentenced in September to almost 44 years in prison for his role in the attack. He began the process of appealing his sentence in October.
Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462
