ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) — A man who was 18 years old when he carjacked a balloon pilot heading to fiesta learned his punishment. On Wednesday, attorneys argued over whether he should get a second chance, or serve serious time in prison.
A young man who’s ready to leave his troubled youth behind, or a criminal who needs to face the consequences – that was the question facing the court at the sentencing hearing for Nasiah Perea, who was convicted of armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and auto theft earlier this year.
Perea was 18 years old when he ran a driver off the road at Broadway and Odelia near the big-I, and stole the car at gunpoint. That was in October of 2024 during Balloon Fiesta, and it turned out the driver of that car was a balloon pilot on his way to a pilots’ briefing…