Leader of AZ Boys Robert Chavez sentenced to two lifetimes in prison for 2009 double murder
Robert Chavez, 49, was convicted May 24 of the 2009 double homicide of Max Griego, Jr. and Mary Hudson Gutierrez.
Chavez was sentenced June 2 to two consecutive life sentences for the deaths which prosecutors argued he ordered as a leader of the ‘AZ Boys,' an organization connected to drug trafficking and other crimes.
These sentences are to run consecutive with previous sentences, including a 26-year sentence for drug trafficking and a life plus 21 year sentence for the murder of Richard Valdez.
“For 13 years we have been waiting for justice and perhaps we have closed the book on the AZ Boys," 12th Judicial District Attorney Scot Key said in a news release.
Both Hudson Gutierrez and Griego we killed at Hudson Gutierrez' house on Montlake Terrace in Alamogordo, court records state. The case went cold until almost a decade later when indictments were returned on Jan. 8, 2019.
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Chavez and his brother Joe D. Chavez, Jr. were leaders of the AZ Boys drug trafficking organization. The AZ Boys imported methamphetamine from Phoenix into Otero County.
The Chavez brothers and their associate Matias Loza were each charged with two counts of first-degree felony murder (willful and deliberate) in the double homicide of Griego and Hudson Gutierrez July 5, 2009.
Griego, 27, was pronounced dead inside the home after receiving medical treatment for gunshot wounds at the residence. His death came after an attempted kidnapping.
Hudson Gutierrez, 34, was transported to Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center, then airlifted to an El Paso hospital, but was pronounced dead at the hospital from gunshot wounds. Her death came after an attempted burglary.
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While the investigation into both deaths was happening, another homicide believed to be related to the AZ Boys was being investigated.
Joe Chavez, Jr.'s son-in-law, Richard Valdez, was killed and his body put in his car and the car set on fire in 2011.
"During the investigation of the Valdez death, the Otero County Narcotics Enforcement unit culminated their separate investigation of drug trafficking activity and were about to indict the organization for a large-scale narcotic smuggling from Phoenix to Alamogordo," a 12th Judicial District Attorney's Office news release states.
"Multiple indictments were returned by the grand jury including racketeering and money laundering. Robert Chavez, Joe Chavez Jr, Matias Loza, and others were indicted in May of 2012."
Loza pled guilty to the murders of Valdez as well as Hudson Gutierrez and Griego and was sentenced to life without parole.
Joe Chavez Jr. is currently serving 48 years for drug trafficking, followed by life plus 15 years for the Valdez murder and the double homicide of Griego and Hudson Gutierrez.
Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter. If you have questions about your subscription, please contact Customer Service at AlamogordoDailyNews@Gannett.com or call 1-877-301-0013.
This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Chavez gets two life sentences for 2009 double murder
