Navajo Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Assault Charge

ALBUQUERQUE—Ricky Stanley Smith, 34, pled guilty to an assault resulting in serious bodily injury charge in Albuquerque federal court this morning. At sentencing, Smith faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment to be followed by not more than three years of supervised release. Smith, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, has been in federal custody since his arrest on May 3, 2011. He remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that Smith was initially charged in a criminal complaint that was filed on May 3, 2011, and subsequently was indicted on May 25, 2011 and charged with an assault resulting in serious bodily injury offense. According to the indictment, Smith assaulted another Navajo man on April 30, 2011, in a location within the Navajo Indian Reservation.

This morning, Smith pled guilty to the indictment. In his plea agreement, Smith admitted that, on April 30, 2011, he was driving while intoxicated and caused a collision that injured the victim of his assault, a passenger in his vehicle. According to the criminal complaint, the collision occurred on U.S. Highway 491, north of Shiprock, N.M., within the Navajo Indian Reservation.

The case was investigated by the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety, Shiprock Division, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.