A four-year run of stolen cars, forged paperwork and land deals that were never his to make has landed an El Paso man a decade behind bars. Alex Montoya, 31, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a string of theft, forgery and government-record charges connected to crimes committed in El Paso County between 2022 and 2026.
Montoya entered his guilty plea on October 13 before Judge Monique Velarde Reyes in the 327th District Court, according to noticiaselpaso.com. Prosecutors say Montoya stole and sold vehicles for scrap, sold land and mobile homes he did not own, and cashed checks drawn on accounts without enough funds to cover them, according to KVIA.
The plea deal covered an extensive list of charges. Montoya admitted to nine counts of theft involving property valued between $2,500 and $30,000, three counts involving property worth $30,000 to $150,000, two counts of forging a financial instrument, and one count of tampering with a government record, per the same account from noticiaselpaso.com. He also admitted guilt in several unindicted cases as part of the plea agreement, according to officials.
A Second Decade Tacked On Through Revoked Probation
Beyond the new charges, Montoya's probation from a prior conviction for evading arrest was revoked, resulting in a separate 10-year prison sentence, officials said. All of his sentences run concurrently rather than stack on top of one another, meaning the total time behind bars will not exceed 10 years. The 34th Judicial District Attorney's Office and the El Paso County Attorney's Office jointly announced the sentence.
The case traces back to at least September 2024, when the Socorro Police Department asked the public for help locating Montoya, who was wanted in connection with fraudulent land sales in the city, according to KFOX14. At that time, Socorro police said he also faced charges including forgery to defraud or harm an elderly person, fraudulent securing of document execution, tampering with government records, and forgery to defraud or harm another person.
Months on the Run Before a Far East El Paso Arrest
Montoya remained wanted into 2025, when he was sought on charges of theft of property, abandoning or endangering a child, evading arrest or detention with a vehicle, forgery, and tampering with government records. El Paso County sheriff's deputies finally arrested him in Far East El Paso on March 29, 2025, according to KVIA's earlier coverage of the arrest. That report identified Montoya as 30 years old at the time, while the more recent sentencing report lists him as 31.
Montoya's case echoes other property and land fraud schemes that have surfaced in El Paso in recent years. A separate case saw a man sentenced to 21 years in prison for a real-estate scam, according to a report from the El Paso Times, while another investigation described a property-title fraud scheme that allegedly targeted military service members preparing for deployment or reassignment, per a separate KVIA report.
Montoya's sentencing closes out a saga that stretched from a Socorro public-assistance appeal in 2024 through a sheriff's department arrest in 2025 and finally a courtroom plea this month. With his sentences running concurrently, the 10-year term stands as the outcome for a case that touched stolen vehicles, forged documents, and land that was never his to sell.
