COURTS
Man sentenced to 35 years in two 2018 shooting deaths
Kevin Geier previously sentenced to 15 years in a third West Side killing
The Bernalillo County Courthouse.
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A man who pleaded guilty to his role in three fatal West Side shootings in 2018 was sentenced this week to more than three decades in prison in connection with two of the killings.
Kevin Geier, 41, pleaded guilty April 30 to two counts of second-degree murder and one count of tampering with evidence in the March 2018 shooting deaths of Samuel Almanza, 28, and Adrian Johnson, 42.
Almanza and Johnson were each shot in the back of the head, prosecutors said.
Johnson was killed March 16, 2018, and Almanza was killed three days later.
Second Judicial District Judge Courtney Weaks sentenced Geier on Monday to 35 years in prison under the terms of his plea agreement.
In Johnson鈥檚 killing, sa国际传媒官网网页入口 police found him lying in a parking lot in the 2600 block of Americare NW near Coors.
Geier鈥檚 co-defendant, Brandon Mendez, 25, pleaded guilty last year to armed robbery and other charges related to Johnson鈥檚 death. He faces up to 12陆 years in prison at a sentencing hearing scheduled Friday before state District Judge Cindy Leos.
Police found Almanza fatally shot in a room at the Econo Lodge in the 5700 block of Iliff NW on March 21, 2018, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.
Investigators linked Geier to Almanza鈥檚 killing after receiving a tip in June 2024 from someone who said they had heard Geier 鈥渂ragging鈥� about killing Almanza and stealing his firearms, the affidavit said. Investigators also relied on phone records and firearms found in Geier鈥檚 possession when he was arrested in Arizona in 2018.
Geier previously was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the March 1, 2018, shooting death of 35-year-old Larry Phillips. Geier pleaded guilty in 2020 to second-degree murder and conspiracy in Phillips鈥� death.
Geier鈥檚 co-defendant, Stephen Paschall, was convicted by a jury in 2022 of first-degree murder, kidnapping and other charges in Phillips鈥� killing. Paschall was sentenced in 2023 to life in prison plus 42 years.
Prosecutors said at the time that Phillips and his attackers were involved in the sale of illegal drugs.
Geier admitted in his plea agreement that he and Paschall sedated Phillips with Xanax, drove him to Lost Horizon NW near Interstate 40 and fatally shot him.
Olivier Uyttebrouck covers the court system. You can reach him at olivier@abqjournal.com.
