Judge sets limits for threat suspect

KRQE TV

Updated: Nov 30, 2012 7:27 PM

SANTA FE (KRQE) — The man accused of threatening to kill the governor is now out of jail but will be tracked everywhere he goes to make sure he stays far away.

Prosecutors asked that James Sanchez only be allowed out of jail if he is wearing an ankle bracelet that works as a satellite-based tracking device.

But the state made it clear it won't only be Probation and Parole Division officers keeping track of him. 

"The governor's security is taking the threats very seriously," Assistant District Attorney Kent Wahlquist said.  "That's why we want on GPS monitor so we can keep track of wherever he is.

"If the governor travels for whatever engagement she has, they would be able to check and make sure the defendant is nowhere nearby, and if he is, they can keep an eye on him."

That may be a first for New Mexico: the governor's security detail keeping tabs on someone accused of being a threat to the governor.

Sanchez, a Valencia county resident, is accused of making those threats in phone messages to Gov. Susana Martinez's office saying things like she better sleep with one eye open.

Sanchez was arraigned Friday in District Court in Santa Fe on five misdemeanors and found out he cannot use a phone unless it's for an emergency.

The judge also sided with the state and ordered Sanchez to stay out of Santa Fe while the charges are pending.

There is history to the case starting with an angry Sanchez wrangling with the New Mexico Livestock Board, which he claimed would not deal with cows roaming onto his Valencia County property.

Then he claimed the governor ignored his cries, too.

Sanchez had already been given a chance to be released from jail when the case was in Magistrate Court.

But he violated his conditions of release after police say he phoned the governor's office again making more threats.

Sanchez, who's a veteran, also will undergo outpatient treatment at a Veterans Administration facility in for post-traumatic stress disorder.
 

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