Judge Sentences Santa Fe County Man for Threatening Anglers on Pecos River

By Ben Neary

NMWF

LAS VEGAS – A state district judge on Wednesday sentenced a Santa Fe County man to five years of probation and ordered him to pay $15,000 in fines following his no-contest pleas to felony charges that he used guns to threaten anglers on the Pecos River.

Judge Michael Aragon also ordered Erik Briones, 65, to serve 100 hours of community service.  Briones could be released from probation after serving two years, six months if he complies with all conditions.

Briones’s case marks the state’s first felony prosecution of a landowner for threatening anglers fishing on public water following a 2022 New Mexico Supreme Court ruling reaffirming the public’s right to fish and recreate on waters that cross private property.

Briones pleaded no-contest in July to three counts of aggravated assault involving threatening or menacing conduct with a deadly weapon. In exchange, the state dropped two other counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon as well as a public nuisance charge. A no-contest plea means that a defendant does not contest a charge, but it is not an admission of guilt.

Over the past few years, several anglers have recorded video of Briones brandishing guns while demanding that they not fish on the Pecos River where it crosses his property upstream from the Village of Pecos. In some cases, he warned anglers that he was prepared to start shooting for “target practice” across the river where they were fishing, forcing them to leave.

Judge Aragon declined a request from defense lawyer Thomas Clark at Wednesday’s hearing to grant Briones a conditional discharge. If the judge had granted that request, Briones would have had no conviction on his record upon successful completion of probation.

Nicholas Nuñez, prosecutor with the New Mexico Department of Justice, argued at Wednesday’s hearing against the judge granting Briones request for a conditional discharge. 

Nuñez said Briones’s conduct for the past few years showed a conscious disregard for the law.

District Judge Flora Gallegos of Las Vegas in May held Briones in contempt of a civil court order that he not interfere with anglers on the river. 

Briones and other landowners have failed in repeated federal court actions to try to block anglers from the river. The federal courts have rejected their claim that the public’s right to fish waters that cross private property is an unconstitutional, uncompensated taking of their private property rights.

The New Mexico Supreme Court in 2022 reaffirmed the longstanding right of New Mexicans to walk or wade on the streambeds of water that flows over privately owned lands for fishing or other recreation. The court also made it clear that the public has no right to trespass over private lands to reach the water.

“We hold that the public has the right to recreate and fish in public waters and that this right includes the privilege to do such acts as are reasonably necessary to effect the enjoyment of such right,” the New Mexico Supreme Court stated in its unanimous opinion.

The New Mexico Supreme Court ruling came in response to a legal challenge brought by the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, the Adobe Whitewater Club and the New Mexico Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. The groups had challenged a regulation adopted by the New Mexico State Game Commission that went into effect in 2017 that purported to allow landowners to close streams over their properties.

Kennis Romero, a flyfishing guide, testified Wednesday that Briones had threatened him with a shotgun as he was fishing on the Pecos River in the summer of 2023.

“I remember the fear in that moment,” Romero said. “The river stopped being a place where I felt comfortable and safe. For those moments, the thought that I might not make it home was real.”

Romero also said he was concerned that Briones had hired a contractor to dig out the river channel where it crossed his property to create more depth. “Nothing will repair the spawning beds you drive an excavator through,” he said. 

Jared Blaschke, another angler, testified that he contacted police after Briones had threatened him. “He told us, ‘don’t make me start shooting, because I will shoot you,” he said of Briones.

Clark told Aragon that he’s been concerned with how the NM Department of Justice has pressed its case against Briones. He said Briones has learned that if he gets cross-wise with the department, “they will crush you.”

Clark said Briones had never been in legal trouble before his arrest. He said Briones spent eight days in jail before he was released.

Briones had the right to fight in federal court to try to exclude anglers from fishing the Pecos River where it crosses his land, Clark said. “This is about retribution,” he said of the state’s case against Briones. “This is about one final pound of flesh to wreck my client in the final years of his life.”

Clark said Briones is in the process of selling his property on the Pecos River. Clark said Briones restored the river channel to fill in the deep pools his contractor had dug as directed by Judge Gallegos. 

Friends and family members spoke on Briones’s behalf, saying he’s an intelligent, compassionate man who cares about animals and is himself a passionate fly fisherman.

Briones told Aragon that he was ashamed of his actions in confronting the anglers. He said his behavior failed to live up to the standards he had set for his son and stepson.

Briones emphasized that he’s been a successful businessman and has been active in supporting charitable organizations and in helping his own employees. “I fully recognize that my responses were unacceptable,” Briones said. 

In pronouncing the sentence, Aragon said that he needs to ensure that the public is safe and that justice has been done. He said he was concerned about Briones’ action in excavating deep pools in the river that could have posed a hazard to someone fishing with a child. He said he was concerned about Briones brandishing and cocking a shotgun in the presence of the anglers.

Attorney General Raúl Torrez issued a statement in June after his office filed the charges against Briones. 

“These allegations involve dangerous and unlawful intimidation directed at New Mexicans who were exercising their legal right to access and recreate in public waters,” Torrez said. “No one has the right to threaten violence against members of the public because they disagree with established law. Our office will continue enforcing both the criminal laws of this state and the public access protections guaranteed under New Mexico law.”