Kirtland Man Receives 21-Month Prison Sentence for Federal Assault Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE—This morning, a U.S. District Judge in Albuquerque sentenced Ricky Stanley Smith, 34, a Navajo man who resides in Kirtland, New Mexico, to a 21-month term of imprisonment for his federal assault conviction. Smith will be on supervised release for two years after completing his prison sentence.

According to court filings, on April 30, 2011, Smith injured another Navajo man when the vehicle Smith was driving struck the back of another vehicle that was stopped at a highway road construction area in Shiprock, New Mexico, a location within the Navajo Indian Reservation. Smith was intoxicated at the time of the collision. Smith’s victim, who was a passenger in Smith’s vehicle, suffered life-threatening injuries, including trauma to his lungs and upper torso that inhibited breathing and required intubation.

Smith was arrested on May 3, 2011, based on a criminal complaint charging him with assault, and has been in federal custody since that time. On May 25, 2011, Smith was charged in an indictment with assault resulting in serious bodily injury. On October 13, 2011, Smith pled guilty to the indictment under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and admitted that, on April 30, 2011, he was driving while intoxicated and caused a collision that injured his passenger.

The case was investigated by the Shiprock Division of the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.