Shiprock Man Pleads Guilty to Statutory Rape Charge

ALBUQUERQUE—Lancelot Lapahie, 26, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, New Mexico, pleaded guilty this morning to a statutory rape charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Lapahie was arrested in November 2013 on an indictment charging him with statutory rape. According to the indictment, between August 2010 and December 2011, Lapahie engaged in a sexual act with a minor under the age of 16 years. During today’s hearing, Lapahie pleaded guilty to the indictment.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Lapahie will be sentenced to 24 months in prison, followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court. He also will be required to register as a sex offender. The 24-month prison sentence will be served concurrently with a 50-month prison sentence Lapahie is serving for his conviction on assault and firearms charges.

The 50-month prison sentence was imposed on Lapahie in May 2013, following Lapahie’s guilty plea to two assault charges and a possession of an unregistered firearm charge. In entering his guilty plea to those charges, Lapahie admitted that in March 2012, he stuck a man with a baseball bat and repeatedly struck another man about the head, arms, and body with a machete. The victim of the machete attack suffered multiple stab wounds and cuts to his head, face, forearm, leg, and back.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Novaline D. Wilson and was investigated by the Albuquerque and Farmington Offices of the FBI and the Shiprock Office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety, with assistance from the Navajo Nation Division of Social Services.