Failed GOP candidate sentenced to 80 years in connection with shooting spree at Democrat officials' homes

A former Republican candidate for a New Mexico state House seat was sentenced Wednesday to years behind bars after contracting gunmen to carry out drive-by shootings at the homes of Democratic leaders after his poll loss Solomon Pe a was convicted of felony charges earlier this year after he orchestrated the attacks in Albuquerque New Mexico just weeks after his defeat in November He had been charged with conspiracy being a felon in possession of a firearm four counts of intimidation and interference with federally protected pursuits four counts of using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and three counts of solicitation to commit a crime of violence The shootings one of which involved a machine gun were carried out between Dec and Jan Pe a personally participated in one of the attacks FORMER CONGRESSMAN GEORGE SANTOS DELIVERS 'GLAMOROUS' FAREWELL BEFORE GOING TO PRISON 'THE CURTAIN FALLS'Some of the shootings happened while children and other relatives of the sufferers were at home although nobody was hurt Prosecutors disclosed Pe a organized the shootings at the homes of two Bernalillo County commissioners and two New Mexico state legislators in response to unsubstantiated insists that poll fraud contributed to his loss Violence and intimidation have no place in our elections U S Attorney for New Mexico Ryan Ellison revealed in a comment on Wednesday The administrators Pe a targeted were all Democrats and included the current state House speaker Following his unsuccessful campaign Pe a went to the homes of members of the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners and pressured them not to certify the vote results purporting that the electoral process had been rigged against him When they refused and certified the results Pe a hired co-conspirators Jose Trujillo and Demetrio Trujillo to carry out the shootings prosecutors revealed MS- LEADER IN TRUMP S CROSSHAIRS TO BE SENTENCED IN RACKETEERING AFFAIR INVOLVING LONG ISLAND MURDERSThe two men Pe a contracted for the shooting spree pleaded guilty last year Following his arrest Pe a attempted to have the pair murdered to prevent them from testifying In addition to the years in prison Pe a was given three years of supervised release His lawyer mentioned he would appeal the conviction Fox News' Danielle Wallace and Reuters contributed to this summary