Shiprock Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Assault Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Dexter Dez, 29, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, N.M., was sentenced this morning in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., for his assault conviction.  Dez was sentenced to a 37 month term of incarceration followed by three years of supervised release.

Dez was arrested on July 11, 2013, on a criminal complaint charging him with assaulting a non-Indian man on May 17, 2013, at a residence in Two Gray Hills, N.M., which is within the Navajo Indian Reservation.  Dez subsequently was indicted and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

According to court filings, on the night of May 17, 2013, an intoxicated Dez entered the victim’s residence and punched him in the left eye with a box cutter.  Dez then fled from the residence.  The victim’s eyelids were severed as a result of the assault and the victim required surgery to repair his eyelid.

Dez entered a guilty plea to the indictment on April 17, 2014, without the benefit of a plea agreement.

This case was investigated by the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and the Farmington office of the FBI, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine Y. Ramirez.