Albuquerque, New Mexico - U.S. District Judge James O. Browning sentenced Christopher Blattner, 38, of Albuquerque, N.M., to 30 years of imprisonment this morning for possessing firearms during and in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes. The Judge ordered Blattner’s federal sentence to run consecutive to the 28-year sentence Blattner already is serving for convictions on second-degree murder (firearms enhancement) and aggravated assault on a peace office with a deadly weapon (firearms enhancement), and voluntary manslaughter in the 2nd Judicial District Court (Bernalillo County) for the State of New Mexico.
Blattner will be on supervised release for five years after completing his prison sentence.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge John J. Durastanti of the Phoenix Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Chief of Police Michael Geier of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) said that Blattner was prosecuted as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets violent, repeat offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders primarily based on their prior criminal convictions for federal prosecution offenders with the goal of making communities in New Mexico safer places for people to live and work.
Blattner was charged in Feb. 2013, with violating the federal narcotics and firearms laws in a five-count indictment. Counts 1 and 5 of the indictment charged Blattner with distributing methamphetamine in Bernalillo County, N.M., on Aug. 6, 2012 and Aug. 17, 2012, respectively. Count 2 charged Blattner with possessing a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime on Aug. 6, 2012. Counts 3 and 4 charged Blattner with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition on Aug. 6, 2012 and Aug. 17, 2012. Blattner’s prior criminal history includes four prior narcotics trafficking convictions in the 2nd and 13th Judicial District Courts for the State of New Mexico
In Aug. 2014, a federal grand jury filed an eight-count superseding indictment that added Blattner’s wife, Brittany Blattner, 29, as a co-defendant. The superseding indictment charged Blattner with two counts of methamphetamine distribution; two counts of using and carrying a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime; and three counts of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. It also charged Blattner and Brittany Blattner with one count of jointly distributing methamphetamine. According to the indictment, Blattner and his wife committed the crimes charged in Bernalillo County, N.M., in Aug. 2012.
On April 10, 2015, Blattner entered a guilty plea to Counts 2 and 5 of the superseding indictment, each of which charged him with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. In his plea agreement, Blattner admitted possessing two Glock semi-automatic pistols on Aug. 6, 2012, in furtherance of a methamphetamine trafficking crime. Blattner also admitted possessing two different Glock semi-automatic pistols on Aug. 17, 2012, in furtherance of another methamphetamine trafficking crime.
On March 24, 2015, Brittany Blattner entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging her with simple possession of methamphetamine. In entering the guilty plea, she admitted possessing methamphetamine on Aug. 17, 2012, in Bernalillo County. Brittany Blattner was sentenced on June 29, 2015, to two years of probation.
This case was investigated by ATF’s Albuquerque office and APD, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Presiliano A. Torrez.