Prisoner pleads guilty to stabbing another New Mexico inmate

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico prisoner accused of stabbing another inmate to death has pleaded guilty in federal court. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports (http://bit.ly/2hDY0OC ) that 36-year-old Jerry Armenta pleaded guilty on Dec. 13 to murder and conspiracy as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. Armenta admitted that he killed 34-year-old Javier Enrique Molina at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility on March 6, 2014. As part of the plea agreement, Armenta also admitted that he had been ordered to kill Molina in connection to his membership in Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico, or SNM, a violent prison gang. Armenta faces life in prison for the murder and conspiracy convictions. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled. Another inmate and member of SNM, Jerry Montoya, has pleaded not guilty in connection to Molina's death.