California woman charged with giving gun to felon who killed officer near Deming

LUNA COUNTY, New Mexico — A California woman has been charged by federal prosecutors with illegally supplying a gun to a convicted felon who shot and killed a New Mexico State Police officer in February.

Laura Swanquist-Chavez, 35, was arraigned Wednesday in federal court in Albuquerque on a two-count indictment charging her with making a false and fictitious statement to a licensed dealer of firearms and knowingly transferring a firearm to a convicted felon.

The U.S. Attorney for New Mexico contends that she purchased a gun from a dealer in Luna County, lied by claiming she was buying it for herself and then "transferred possession of a firearm to Omar Cueva-Felix knowing that he had been convicted previously of a felony... (and) could not legally possess a firearm or ammunition."

The gun transfer allegedly took place prior to Feb. 4, the day 28-year-old Officer Darion Jarrott was killed near Deming while conducting a traffic stop of a pickup driven by Cueva-Felix, a drug trafficking suspect under investigation by federal Homeland Security agents.

The 29-year-old Cueva opened fire, killing Jarrott. Cueva then drove off along Interstate 10, but was killed in a gunfight later that same day with law enforcement officers in the Las Cruces area.

Federal authorities didn't indicate if the weapon purchased by Swanquist-Chavez was used in the officer's slaying. She faces up to ten years in prison if convicted of the charges filed against her.