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By Phaedra Haywood | The New Mexican
Two men who were held at gunpoint during a robbery of their medical cannabis production plant in 2013 broke down Monday while describing the ordeal during a jury trial of one of the defendants.
“He put the gun to my head and and said, ‘stay calm,’ ” said Peter Ferrera a partner in the business, his voice cracking. “And I stayed calm and I just laid there with my head on the desk and the the gun to my head. I felt like I was gonna die. I felt like I wasn’t ever going to get to see my family again and that’s all I could think about.”
Reyes Barela, 32, the defendant, is one of four men police believe were involved in the heist. The robbers tied the two businessmen to chairs and made off with $30,000 to $50,000 worth of cannabis that had been dried, cured and made ready for sale. They also stole Baker’s vehicle.
Mark Baker, Ferrera’s friend and business partner, also became emotional recounting the robbery. Baker said he’d been working in another room that day and entered the area where Ferrera was after hearing loud voices.
“Immediately there was a gun in my face, a barrel in my face,” said Baker who described his assailant as slight of build with “buggy eyes and a very big handgun.”
“I immediately dropped my head and put my hands up and said, ‘Whatever you need. Whatever you want I will help you.’ I didn’t want to get shot in the head. I felt like if I threatened this guy the least amount he might pull the trigger.”
Baker said he got out of the medical cannabis business because of the robbery.
Neither eyewitness positively identified Barela, saying they did not get a good look at the robbers’ faces.
Police Detective Paul Prentice testified that the initial investigation into the robbery turned up no useful leads. It was essentially a cold case until 2015, when a suspect in another case provided a tip that led police to Barela and several other men.
Prosecutors showed a videotape Monday of their interview with Barela in which he repeatedly asked for assurance that the detectives would help him avoid jail time if he cooperated. He denied taking part in the robbery, then admitted being there but said he didn’t have a gun.
Barela, of Rio Rancho, is charged with 12 felony counts. They include two counts of first-degree kidnapping — presumably for preventing the men from leaving the building during the robbery — two counts of robbery, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of false imprisonment, theft of a motor vehicle, tampering with evidence and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
According to court records, Jose Nava, one of the other men whose names were mentioned in connection with the case faced charges almost identical to Barela’s until Sept. 21. Then the district attorney dismissed them. A man whom Prentice identified as someone who had placed himself at the crime scene and identified the others in 2015 does not appear to have been charged in the case.
Nava’s attorney, Stephen Aarons, said Monday the charges against Nava were dismissed after the informant who placed Nava at the scene recanted. Aarons also said Nava had “a pretty ironclad alibi” that he was at work when the robbery happened.
Barela is also the defendant in another pending case in the Santa Fe-area judicial district in which he’s charged with four counts of armed robbery and four counts of conspiracy. He was also charged with armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery in a 2015 case originating in Rio Rancho that was dismissed in May. And a Santa Fe jury in July acquitted Barela in a 2015 case in which he faced charges of aggravated burglary, conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary and larceny.
Barela’s trial will continue Tuesday.
Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com. Follow her on Twitter at @phaedraann.
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