Bandidos member charged during Red River shooting accepts plea deal
By Liam Easley Taos New News Mexico December 13, 2023
https://www.taosnews.com/public-safety/bandidos-member-charged-during-red-river-shooting-accepts-plea-deal/article_11bed387-f4b7-5e34-8036-ab5dfff30f23.html
An Austin, Texas, man charged during the fatal Memorial Day biker club shooting in Red River pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance during a hearing Tuesday (Dec. 12) as part of a plea deal struck with the 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Taos. Per the agreement, Jackson will receive a conditional discharge following 12 months of unsupervised probation.
The defendant, Matthew Jackson, is a member of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club and was arrested on May 27 after the Red River Memorial Day Motorcycle Rally shootout that left three other biker club members dead and five wounded.
Although not charged directly in connection to the shootings, around the time of the shooting, police say Jackson brought a firearm into a nearby restaurant licensed to carry liquor and was also in possession of methamphetamine. The firearms charge, however, was dropped by the state as part of the plea agreement.
According to defense attorney Day Thornton, the plea agreement was difficult to create, especially after months of choppy correspondence with 8th Judicial District Prosecutor Cosme Ripol, who Thornton said repeatedly ignored attempts at striking a deal.
After the plea was entered, Tuesday’s hearing addressed a separate motion in relation to concerns Thornton raised regarding Ripol’s treatment of the case.
Ripol had been handling the case for prosecutor Taina Colon, who was away from the office. Since June, Thornton claimed that Ripol had been unresponsive and vacillant in plea negotiations, at one point changing a conditional discharge period from 12 months to 18. Arguing that the negotiations cost Jackson money and time, the motion called for a reimbursement of funds expended by Jackson as attempts at negotiation were ignored.
Colon expressed doubt that it was intentional and instead blamed administrative delay and the added complexities involved with a case against a defendant who resides permanently in another state. Because of the Interstate Compact, which allows state judiciary systems to work in conjunction to resolve cases involving out-of-state defendants, 8th Judicial District Judge Jeffrey Shannon agreed that some additional time to resolve the case may have been warranted.
Colon also argued that the motion for reimbursement of attorneys fees would set a precedent that would encourage potential abuse.
Shannon agreed that the reimbursement would be irrelevant, although he did grant a return of fees for resources expended when Ripol changed the plea to offer an 18-month conditional discharge, which he said would have been inappropriate for the charge in Jackson’s case.
The May 27 Red River shooting started from a feud between the Bandidos Motorcycle Club and the Water Dogs Motorcycle Club. Jackson is a member of the Bandidos. Three arrests were made, including Jackson.
One arrestee, Jacob Castillo, was initially charged with first-degree homicide in connection to the fatal shooting, although this case was dismissed without prejudice and had yet to be refiled as of press time Wednesday (Dec. 13). The other arrestee, Christopher Garcia, who is also a member of the Bandidos, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence. A jury trial has been set in his case for Feb. 26.
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