Zuni Pueblo Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Rape Charge
| U.S. Attorney’s Office April 29, 2011 |
ALBUQUERQUE—United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales announced that, this morning in federal court in Albuquerque, Jay Felix Johnson, 27, pleaded guilty to an aggravated sexual abuse charge. At sentencing, Johnson, a member of the Pueblo of Zuni, faces a maximum penalty of imprisonment for any period of years or life, $250,000 fine, and five years of supervised release. Johnson also will be required to register as a sex offender. Johnson has been in federal custody since September 3, 2010 and will remain detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
Johnson was charged with aggravated sexual assault in an indictment filed on July 13, 2010. The indictment alleged that Johnson forcibly caused a female to engage in a sexual act on a date between January 2, 2003 and March 5, 2003 and that the unlawful act occurred within Indian Country. This morning, Johnson entered a guilty plea to the offense charged in the indictment under a plea agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Pueblo of Zuni Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shana B. Long.