Standing Rock, New Mexico Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Assault Charge
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 13, 2011 |
ALBUQUERQUE—This morning in Albuquerque federal court, Gilbert Hildreth, 38, pled guilty to an assault resulting in serious bodily injury offense. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Hildreth will be sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment to be followed by not more than three years of supervised release. Hildreth, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Standing Rock, N.M., has been in federal custody since his arrest on November 19, 2010, and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that, on November 10, 2010, a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging Hildreth with (i) assault with a dangerous weapon; (ii) assault resulting in serious bodily injury; and (iii) aggravated sexual abuse. The indictment alleged that Hildreth committed the three offenses on July 17, 2010 when he assaulted a Navajo woman (Victim) with a log in a location within the Navajo Indian Reservation.
This morning, Hildreth pled guilty to count two of the indictment. In his plea agreement, Hildreth admitted assaulting the Victim on July 17, 2010 by hitting and choking her, and then throwing her down. He acknowledged that, as a result of his assault, the Victim suffered several broken bones in her hands, two large cuts on her head, a broken transverse process, in her vertebrae, and numerous bruises on her arms, neck, and shoulders. The Victim also sustained injuries consistent with strangulation, including bruising and scratching on the neck, a black eye, and significant soft tissue swelling around the head. Hildreth admitted that the assault took place near Church Rock, N.M., within the Navajo Indian Reservation.
Under the plea agreement, counts one and three will be dismissed after Hildreth is sentenced.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer M. Rozzoni.