Jemez Pueblo Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Assaulting a Taos Pueblo Man and a Jemez Pueblo Man

ALBUQUERQUE—Jerome Dominic Concha, 20, a member and resident of Jemez Pueblo, was sentenced this afternoon to 57 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for two assault convictions. Concha also was ordered to pay $13,359.38 to the Indian Health Services in Taos and Jemez Pueblos to cover the costs of medical care for the victims of Concha’s assaults.

Concha was arrested on February 15, 2012, and charged with assaulting a Taos Pueblo man on January 7, 2011. Concha pleaded guilty to an assault charge on July 27, 2012, and admitted seeking the victim out, knocking him to the ground, and repeatedly striking him about the head and face. The victim had to undergo surgery to repair the extensive damage to the bone structure of the orbit of the eye and nasal bone fractures he sustained as a result of Concha’s assault.

While on release under pretrial supervision and awaiting sentencing on the January 7, 2011 assault, Concha was again arrested on January 10, 2013, on another assault charge. In February 2013, Concha was indicted and charged with assault resulting in serious bodily injury. According to court records, on January 1, 2013, Concha repeatedly struck a Jemez Pueblo man in the face and head with a hatchet in a residence on Jemez Pueblo. On April 22, 2013, Concha pleaded guilty to this second assault and admitted assaulting the victim with a hatchet. The victim sustained serious injuries, including a depressed skull fracture, a fracture to the jaw and upper palate, and the loss of multiple teeth, as a result of the assault.

These cases were investigated by the Albuquerque Field Office of the FBI with assistance from the Taos Police Department and the Pueblo of Jemez Police Department and were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Niki Tapia-Brito.