A Quemado man pleaded guilty on Apr. 13 in federal court after law enforcement seized 13 firearms and ammunition from his property during a search in 2024.
The case highlights ongoing efforts by law enforcement to address illegal firearm possession, particularly by individuals with prior felony convictions. Authorities say that Chad Walter Gash, age 43, was identified as a person of interest during an investigation into residential burglaries by the Catron County Sheriff’s Office in April 2024.
Court documents show that Gash had previously been convicted in Texas in 2014 for manufacturing or delivery of a controlled substance and completed his sentence in October 2019. As a result of this conviction, he was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition. Investigators learned from neighbors that firearms were regularly being fired at Gash’s property and that he possessed numerous weapons there.
On April 30, 2024, officers executed a search warrant at Gash’s residence where they recovered the firearms and ammunition from his bedroom and a travel trailer associated with him. Methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were also found during the search. Some of the seized weapons included an unregistered short-barreled shotgun and a destructive device.
Gash pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and faces up to fifteen years in prison at sentencing. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement regarding this plea.
The Las Cruces Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with help from the Catron County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Dickens and Benjamin Suslavich are prosecuting.
