FBI Arrests Five New Mexico Compound Suspects Days After Multiple Charges Were Dropped

The FBI announced Friday that it had arrested all five New Mexico compound suspects, days after multiple charges were dropped. The suspects were now being charged with violating federal firearms and conspiracy laws.

The announcement comes after local prosecutors dropped charges in the death of a 3-year-old boy at the compound site. Taos County District Attorney Donald Gallegos said Friday his office would now seek grand jury indictments involving the death. Gallegos said seeking indictments would allow more time to gather evidence.

“The defendants, Jany Leveille, 35, a Haitian national illegally present in the United States, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 40, Hujrah Wahhaj, 37, Subhanah Wahhaj, 35, and Lucas Morton, 40, are charged in a criminal complaint that was filed earlier today in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico,” the bureau said in a statement.

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On Wednesday, three of the suspects were released from custody, just hours after a judge dismissed all of the charges against them.

District Judge Emilio Chavez on Wednesday dismissed charges against Lucas Morton, Subhannah Wahhaj and Hujrah Wahhaj, ruling that authorities violated the state’s “10-day rule.”

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During a separate hearing Wednesday, Judge Jeff McElroy dismissed the same charges against fellow defendants, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj and Jany Leveille.

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The FBI said they arrested all five suspects without incident on Friday afternoon in Taos.

Leveille faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years of imprisonment and deportation upon completion of her sentence if convicted, according to the bureau.

If convicted of aiding and abetting Leveille, Leveille’s co-defendants could each face a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years of imprisonment. If convicted on the conspiracy charge, meanwhile, the five could each face a statutory penalty of five years’ imprisonment.

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