Mescalero Apache Man Pleads Guilty to Assaulting 16-Month-Old Child

ALBUQUERQUE—Alcario Emilio Provencio, 24, a member and resident of the Mescalero Apache Nation, pleaded guilty on October 28, 2013, in Las Cruces federal court to assaulting a minor in Indian Country. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Provencio will be sentenced to 36 months of imprisonment, followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

Provencio was arrested on April 15, 2013, on a criminal complaint charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury. According to the complaint, Provencio assaulted a 16-month-old child who was in his care on October 10, 2012, in a residence located on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. As a result of the assault, the victim sustained serious injuries including compression fractures of two vertebrae, retinal hemorrhaging, a fractured rib, and numerous bruises on the head, face, neck, and torso. Provencio was in tribal custody on tribal charges related to the assault until his arrest on federal charges.

On Friday, Provencio entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him with assault of a person under the age of 16 resulting in substantial bodily injury. Provencio admitted assaulting the victim by intentionally striking the child and acknowledged that the victim sustained substantial bodily injury as a result of the assault.

Provencio has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces Resident Agency of the FBI and the Mescalero Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.