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LAS CRUCES - A convicted murderer who apologized to his victim in a letter published in the Sun-News is headed back to prison after using cocaine, staying out past curfew and failing to report an arrest, according to a probation revocation filed in court Monday.
Carlos Valente Franco was 19 when he repeatedly shot brothers Brian and Damian Lowell with a 9 mm handgun about 3 a.m. June 30, 1999, killing 20-year-old Brian Lowell and seriously injuring Damian Lowell, 24.
Franco, who lives in Roswell and will turn 30 on Thursday, spent 10 years in prison before being placed on probation, which would have lasted until mid-2012.
After Franco admitted to using cocaine, staying out past his curfew, failing to submit a letter of apology to his victims and failing to report his arrest for disorderly conduct, 3rd Judicial District Court Judge Lisa Schultz ordered him back into the custody of the New Mexico Corrections Department for two years, the remainder of his sentence, according to a probation revocation filed Monday.
The shooting happened after an insult was hurled during a party at Holly Gardens Mobile Manor, off Elks Drive, according to authorities. Franco was found hiding in a nearby backyard just two hours after the killing by a police K-9 unit.
A jury convicted him the next year of second-degree murder and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm and he was sentenced Dec. 5, 2000, to serve 15 years in prison, plus two on parole, complete 200 hours community
Third Judicial District Judge Lourdes A. Martinez, now a federal magistrate, also ordered Franco to write a letter of apology, to be published in the newspaper. He did so last October, but failed to send a copy to the victims' family, according to the state's petition to revoke his probation.
Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.
