United States of America v. Lionel Vallo

Albuquerque, New Mexico criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition and failure to update his sex offender registration.



According to the plea agreement and other court records, Lionel Vallo, age 39, who previously was convicted of aggravated sexual abuse in Indian Country in 2003, failed to update his sex offender registration after moving to a new address in Albuquerque. Vallo also failed to update his quarterly registration on July 1, 2020.



On July 26, 2022, in Albuquerque, members of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Southwest Investigative Fugitive Team (SWIFT) Task Force initiated a traffic stop on Vallo, who was subject to an arrest warrant for absconding from supervised release. Vallo did not stop immediately, and once stopped, initially was non-compliant with commands to exit the vehicle. After Vallo eventually exited the vehicle and was taken into custody, SWIFT members located loaded firearms in the vehicle.



Upon his release from prison, Vallo will be subject to 10 years of supervised release.



Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Marshals Service investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorneys Nicholas Marshall and Matthew McGinley are prosecuting the case.



18:922(g)(1) and 924: Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition

(1)



18:2250(a): Failure to Update Sex Offender Registration

(2)

SENTENCE IMPOSED: CBOP: 37 months as to Counts 1 and 2 of the Information; said terms to run concurrently; Supervised Release: 3 years as to Count 1; 10 years as to Count 2; said terms to run concurrently, with Special Conditions; SPA: $200; Defendant held in custodyon.