Two Plead Guilty to Assaulting Victims in Supai at Bottom of Grand Canyon

PHOENIX—Tony Crooke, 43, and Robert Hastings, Jr., 23, both members of the Havasupai Indian Tribe, pleaded guilty yesterday to their involvement in a December 2010 assault in Supai, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Crooke pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon and Hastings pleaded guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

On December 20, 2010 at 2:30 a.m. on the Havasupai Indian Reservation, Crooke and Hastings, along with another co-defendant, Victor Grounds, kicked down the door and broke into a Supai home with three victims inside. The defendants punched one sleeping victim in the face. The victim suffered a broken orbital bone and lacerations to his face. Crooke and Hastings left Grounds with the first victim and got on top of another victim. They punched the victim, and Crooke stabbed that victim in the side. The defendants asked where the money was and looked for money in the pockets of the two victims they assaulted. Before the defendants left the house, they threatened the unharmed female that she should expect physical harm if she contacted police. The three defendants fled, and police were called. The two victims were flown out of the Grand Canyon and treated at a hospital in Flagstaff, Ariz.

Sentencing is set before U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell on November 21, 2011 for Crooke and on December 5, 2011, for Hastings. A conviction for each count of assault carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. In determining an actual sentence, Judge Campbell will consult the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence. Grounds is set for trial on September 13, 2011.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The prosecution in this case is being handled by Jennifer E. Green, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

CASE NUMBER: CR-11-8018-PCT-DGC
RELEASE NUMBER: 2011-190(Crooke)