Bosque Farms man pleads guilty to illegal shotgun possession charge

A Bosque Farms man who had already lost his gun rights under federal law admitted in court that he kept a 12-gauge shotgun and shotgun shells anyway.

Warren Chewiwi, 52, pleaded guilty on April 14, 2026, to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. Federal prosecutors said he had prior convictions for both a felony and a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, the kind of record that bars someone from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law. In practical terms, “prohibited person” means the person is legally forbidden to have a gun, even if the weapon is kept at home and even if the conviction happened years earlier.

The case was investigated by the Isleta Pueblo Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary C. Jones, underscoring how firearm cases in Valencia County can move through tribal, local and federal public safety systems at once. Prosecutors said the weapon was found in connection with conduct on July 15, 2024, when Chewiwi possessed the shotgun and shells. The Justice Department said the case fit into an ongoing effort to combat violent crime and protect families in tribal communities through community-focused enforcement.

Federal law treats domestic-violence-related gun possession as especially serious because the presence of a firearm can sharply raise the danger to victims and households. That is why the charge was handled in federal court rather than as a routine local weapons matter. Chewiwi now faces up to 15 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and forfeiture of the shotgun and ammunition to the federal government.

The plea also fits a longer record. In 2015, federal prosecutors said Chewiwi, then 42, who lived in Bosque Farms and was an enrolled member of Isleta Pueblo, pleaded guilty to domestic assault by a habitual offender. He was later sentenced to 23 months in prison and three years of supervised release. That history helps explain why the new case carries such weight for Bosque Farms and nearby neighborhoods: when someone with prior domestic-violence convictions is found with a gun, the risk is not abstract, and federal authorities are prepared to act.