Grand Jury indicts local sex offender

By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — The Cibola County Grand Jury was busy again last week handing down indictments on everything from cocaine possession to sex offender offenses.

In the first indictment Michael Gurule is charged with possession of cocaine which is a fourth degree felony, in an incident that occurred on November 3, 2006 in Cibola County. Gurule is also charged with driving while his license was suspended or revoked in the same incident, which is a misdemeanor and failure to use a turn signal, a misdemeanor.

In a second grand jury indictment handed down to Nicholas Albert Garcia, he is charged with one count of assault with intent to commit a violent felony by striking at a female victim with the intent to kill or commit a violent felony of murder, mayhem, sexual penetration, robbery or burglary in an incident that occurred on July 21, 2006. That count is considered a third degree felony. In the same indictment, Garcia has a count of false imprisonment lodged against him by confining and restraining the same female victim without her consent, a fourth degree felony, in the third count, he is charged with battery against a household member, a misdemeanor, and in the fourth count of the indictment, he is charged with bribery of a witness, a third degree felony.

In the grand jury indictment against Eric Martin, he is charged with failing to register as a sex offender on or between December 10, 2005 and December 21, 2006 in Cibola County with the sheriffs department, a fourth degree felony offense.

The district grand jury meets regularly, usually on Wednesdays and hears evidence from prosecuting attorneys of the 13th Judicial District Attorneys Office. Members of the grand jury then decide whether or not to return a "true bill," for indictment, which is then placed into the individual's criminal file in district court.