Career
Military service
After law school,Gallegos joined the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps. [3] [4] [6] After graduating from the Naval Justice School with honors in 2005,he reported to Naval Air Station Jacksonville as a military prosecutor. [1] [3] In 2007,Gallegos deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom,where he served as a legal advisor with Multi-National Force –Iraq,Task Force 134. [1] [2] [3] [4] In 2008,Gallegos reported as Deputy Command Judge Advocate on board USS Nimitz (CVN-68). [2] [3]
In 2010,Gallegos left active duty and joined the United States Navy Reserve. [1] [3] As a reserve Navy JAG,he variously served as an operational law attorney with the United States Third Fleet,United States Pacific Fleet,and the United States Sixth Fleet reserve legal offices. [3] He also served as staff judge advocate for SEAL Team 17 and for the Navy reserve component of United States Special Operations Command. [3] [7] From 2014-2015,Gallegos mobilized to Joint Task Force Guantanamo,where he served as liaison to the International Committee of the Red Cross. [2] [3]
Civilian legal career
In 2010,Gallegos became a prosecutor with the 13th Judicial District Attorney's Office in Sandoval County,New Mexico. [1] [2] [3] In 2011,he became a prosecutor with the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office in Bernalillo County,New Mexico. [1] [2] [3] In 2013,he became a staff attorney at the New Mexico Court of Appeals in Albuquerque,New Mexico. [1] [2] [3] From 2015-2018,Gallegos served on the board of directors of the National Hispanic Cultural Center. [2] [3] In 2021,Gallegos joined Harrison &Hart,LLC,as an attorney. [3] [7]
Judicial service
In January 2018,Gallegos was appointed to the New Mexico Court of Appeals by Governor Susana Martinez. [8] He ran a statewide campaign to keep his seat on the court. [1] [6] [9] He was the subject of an attack ad paid for by New Mexico trial lawyers,portraying him as a puppet of Governor Martinez. [10] In response,Gallegos is quoted by The Santa Fe New Mexican as saying,“It is a disappointing turn of events,given that judicial elections in New Mexico,while nominally partisan,are supposed to be different“and that "[t]his overt and rancorous appeal to partisanship is antithetical to the concept of judicial independence and the rule of law.” [10] Gallegos went on to lose to Democrat Megan Duffy,54.5% to 45.5%,the closest statewide race in the 2018 New Mexico elections. [11] [12]
In December 2018,Governor Martinez appointed Gallegos to the Second Judicial District Court in Bernalillo County,New Mexico,where he presided over felony criminal cases. [2] [13] In November 2020,he lost a partisan countywide election to Democrat Courtney Weaks,56.2% to 43.8%. [12] [14] His 43.8% was the best performance of any Republican in Bernalillo County in the 2020 New Mexico elections. [15]
