On Thursday, Barber pleaded guilty to a total of five charges from that day, including second-degree murder, aggravated battery and aggravated fleeing. Barber was sentenced to 20 years in the state penitentiary with six years probation and parole.
Pacheco’s family did not attend Thursday’s hearing. The prosecutor said they did not wish to speak. The judge asked Barber for his thoughts on the sentencing.
Barber has been behind bars since 2017, so about five years will be taken off his sentence for time served.
Barber’s plea was for second-degree murder, but he could have been charged with first-degree murder, based on a ruling from the New Mexico Supreme Court. That’s what he was initially charged with, and prosecutors even appealed to make that charge stick after a judge throw it out.
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