Tohatchi Man Sentenced to 51 Months in Prison for Federal Assault Conviction
| U.S. Attorney’s Office November 06, 2012 |
ALBUQUERQUE—Ronald Yazzie, 36, a member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Tohatchi, New Mexico, was sentenced by a federal judge in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to 51 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for his assault conviction.
Yazzie’s codefendant, Frederick Jimmie, 22, a Navajo man from Crownpoint, New Mexico, was sentenced yesterday to 41 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Yazzie also was ordered jointly and severally to pay $20,755.38 in restitution to cover the medical costs of the victim.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that Yazzie and Jimmie were charged with assaulting a Navajo man on February 2, 2011, in Crownpoint, which is located on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Jimmie and Yazzie were indicted on September 14, 2011, and charged with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Both men were arrested on September 22, 2012, and have been in federal custody since that time.
On March 14, 2012, Jimmie and Yazzie each pled guilty to the assault resulting in serious bodily injury charge. In entering his guilty plea, Jimmie admitted that, on February 2, 2011, he and Yazzie assaulted the victim by punching and kicking him in the face. Jimmie also admitted that he later stabbed the victim in the chest and arms. During his plea hearing, Yazzie admitted assaulting the victim by punching and kicking the victim in the face and driving his vehicle over the victim’s leg. Yazzie also acknowledged driving Jimmie to the place where Jimmie stabbed he victim. The victim suffered several deep stab wounds, a broken fibula and ankle, broken orbital walls, and a broken nose as a result of the assault.
The two remaining counts of the indictment as against Yazzie were dismissed after he was sentenced.
The case was being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Roberto D. Ortega and was investigated by the Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI, with assistance from the Crownpoint Division of the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety.