New Town Man Pleads Guilty to Burglary and Gun Charges
U.S. Attorney’s Office August 17, 2010 |
MINOT, ND—Acting United States Attorney Lynn Jordheim announced that on August 16, 2010, Troy K. Yazzie, Jr., 19, of New Town, North Dakota, pled guilty before United States District Court Daniel L. Hovland to charges of burglary and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
On April 14, 2010, in the New Town area, Yazzie went to a residence looking for a person. Yazzie entered the residence without knocking and without permission and began searching for that person. Yazzie found a man sleeping on the couch, woke him and pointed a 9mm pistol at him. The victim was not the man Yazzie intended to find.
The charge of burglary carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence carries a mandatory minimum of seven years in federal prison and a statutory maximum of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The case was investigated by Three Affiliated Tribes Police Department, Bureau of Indian Affairs - Fort Berthold Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Sentencing for Yazzie has been scheduled for November 29, 2010, in United States District Court in Minot, North Dakota, at 11:00 a.m.
Assistant United States Attorney Rick Volk is prosecuting the case.