Road rage shooter facing more prison time
Plea deal reached on federal trafficking, firearms charges
Tony Derrick Torrez — previously sentenced to 16 years in prison for the road rage killing of 4-year-old Lilly Garcia — pleaded guilty Thursday to drug trafficking and firearms charges and is facing about eight years in federal prison, according to his plea agreement.
The plea deal also requires Torrez to forfeit $64,000 in drug proceeds and firearms and ammunition seized during the investigation of the case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Torrez, 33, was charged in a federal criminal complaint in October 2015 with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and using and carrying firearms in relation to drug trafficking crimes.
Torrez admitted possessing marijuana in October 2015 that he intended to distribute to others as well as illegal steroids for his personal use, according to court records. He also admitted possessing “several firearms while he was using the illegal steroids to protect himself from the dangers of the drug trafficking business,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
In December, he pleaded guilty to charges arising out of the murder of Garcia during the Oct. 21, 2015, road rage incident, and was sentenced to 16 years. Torrez’s federal sentence will run consecutively to at least 15 of the 16-year state prison sentence. He remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
The case was investigated by the Albuquerque offices of the Drug Enforcement Agency and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Albuquerque Police Department, with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Mysliwiec and Nicholas Ganjei are prosecuting the case.