Ricky Roybal, 30, pleaded guilty to a list of charges including dozens of burglaries at businesses across the Albuquerque metro, and a judge has sentenced him to 4.5 years behind bars. The stolen goods and property damage from his spree totaled more than $22,000. His haul included everything from cash and lottery tickets to household items like Febreze and laundry detergent.
According to KRQE, investigators say Roybal targeted closed businesses late at night, breaking windows or doors to get inside. His criminal history goes back more than a decade, the outlet reports, painting a picture of a serial offender who cycled through the metro's commercial corridors largely undetected until the pattern caught up with him.
A Judge Weighs Addiction Against the Crimes
During sentencing, Judge Emeterio Rudolfo said he would see the case differently if Roybal were not stealing to fund his addictions, according to the same report. The judge reportedly compared stealing food out of hunger with stealing to feed an addiction, a distinction that shaped how he approached the sentence even as the dollar figure and the sheer number of burglaries stacked up against Roybal.
The station's report notes that in March, Roybal was moved to mental health court, a detail that underscores the intersection between his criminal record and the underlying issues the judge weighed from the bench. No further explanation of that transfer was offered in the reporting.
Bernalillo County’s Second Judicial District Mental Health Court is a voluntary specialty court for people facing felony charges whose involvement with the justice system is connected to serious mental illness. The program typically lasts 18 to 24 months and can include clinical case management, treatment and support with housing, education or employment; it also considers substance-use and co-occurring disorders. Its structure provides context for Roybal’s transfer, though the court’s general program description does not establish what services he received. The court’s program overview sets out its eligibility and treatment model.
Dozens of Businesses Hit Across the Metro
The pattern described by investigators, per the same account, shows a thief who wasn't picky about what he took so long as a business was closed and vulnerable. From cash registers to convenience-store shelves stocked with lottery tickets and cleaning supplies, Roybal's burglaries added up to a financial and emotional toll for business owners across the Albuquerque area, even before accounting for the broken windows and doors left behind at each scene.
The case comes amid a reported decline in commercial burglaries citywide. Albuquerque Police Department figures show 753 commercial burglaries from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, 2026, compared with 1,289 over the same period in 2025, a 42% decrease. The department cautions that the figures are preliminary and classify residential and commercial burglaries by the location category recorded by the reporting officer. The citywide numbers provide a broader measure of the problem, but do not indicate whether Roybal’s cases are included in the same reporting period. APD’s September 2026 crime snapshot lists the totals and methodology.
