ALBUQUERQUE — Deundalas Gales, 37, an Albuquerque drug trafficker who, according to court documents, fired about 25 rounds at another vehicle after a high-speed crash and kept hundreds of grams of methamphetamine and fentanyl with an arsenal of firearms, has been sentenced to nearly 29 years in federal prison, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. There is no parole in the federal system, and after prison Gales will serve five years of supervised release.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, District of New Mexico
The case began on July 6, 2024, when Gales was driving at a high rate of speed in Albuquerque and crashed into another vehicle, according to court documents cited by the Justice Department. Immediately after the crash, Gales fired approximately 25 rounds toward the other vehicle from a handgun equipped with a machinegun conversion device. The other vehicle was hit multiple times, but the other driver was fortunately not struck.
Gales then fled the scene on foot, abandoning the vehicle, which contained 447.1 grams of methamphetamine at 99% purity and a stolen shotgun. As he fled, he dropped the firearm fitted with the conversion device, his wallet and other personal belongings, which allowed investigators to eventually identify him, the Justice Department said.
A fire, body armour and a smoke-filled apartment
A week later, on July 13, 2024, officers responded to reports that Gales was breaking into a neighbour's apartment and setting fire to his own apartment. Officers found Gales bleeding, wearing body armour and holding a loaded firearm magazine. After safely detaining him, Albuquerque Police Department officers entered his smoke-filled apartment to check for occupants and saw firearms and fentanyl pills in plain view, according to the Justice Department.
Investigators then obtained a search warrant for the apartment and recovered 216.5 net grams of fentanyl, 892.7 net grams of methamphetamine, five firearms, a black powder revolver, approximately 500 rounds of ammunition, digital scales and multiple firearm magazines.
Detectives also searched a vehicle belonging to Gales that was parked at the apartment. There they recovered approximately 204 grams of fentanyl, 112.8 net grams of methamphetamine and five additional firearms, including a machinegun conversion device.
Prior convictions and the guilty plea
Gales was already a convicted felon, with prior convictions for assault, aggravated robbery and possession of a controlled substance, and was therefore prohibited from possessing any firearm or ammunition, the Justice Department said. He pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possessing and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, unlawful possession of a machinegun, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Robert "Eric" Castañeda, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, announced the sentence. The DEA investigated the case with assistance from the Albuquerque Police Department and the FBI's Albuquerque Field Office, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico prosecuted it.
Source: ABQ RAW, reporting the federal sentencing in Albuquerque
A machinegun conversion device — often called a switch — is a small part that converts a semi-automatic handgun to fire fully automatically with a single pull of the trigger. Federal law treats possession of such a device as possession of a machinegun. In this case, prosecutors said one device was on the handgun fired after the crash, and another was found among five additional firearms in the vehicle searched at the apartment.
What happens next
With no parole in the federal system, Gales will serve his nearly 29-year term in federal custody, followed by five years of supervised release. The sentence closes the federal case that began with the July 2024 crash and shooting in Albuquerque and the two searches that followed at his apartment and vehicle. The other driver in the July 6, 2024 crash was not struck by the gunfire, the Justice Department said.