Staff Report 

A warrant was issued July 13 for Joshua J. Montoya, 23, of Espanola by First Judicial District Judge T. Glenn Ellington after probation officials in Espanola indicated he failed to report to them after his conditional discharge May 24.

Montoya was originally arrested in July 2016 for stealing large amounts of copper from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Los Alamos Police Department and LANL officials confirmed with an Espanola company that it had purchased 2,709 pounds of copper and brass from Montoya and that he had been paid $3,474.

Montoya was finally bound over May 11 to District Court by Los Alamos Magistrate Judge Pat Casados. Judge Ellington sentenced him May 24 to three years of supervised probation on the charge of larceny of more than $2,500, a third degree felony, and required him to report to probation officials.

Montoya was declared an absconder July 13 and Judge Ellington ordered that he be held without bond. Montoya faces a probation violation hearing and depending on the outcome, could be remanded to the New Mexico Department of Corrections for the remainder of his sentence.