Former Tribal Corrections Officer Sentenced for Sexually Abusing an Inmate and Violating Her Civil Rights

ALBUQUERQUE – U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, Special Agent Terry Wade of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division and Chief Herman Silva of the Laguna Pueblo Tribal Police Department announced today the sentencing of Trevor Hunt for his conviction on sexual assault and criminal civil rights charges.  Hunt, 22, of Paguate, N.M., was a detention officer at the Laguna Pueblo Detention Facility (LPDF) when he committed these crimes.  Hunt will serve a 30-month term of imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years after completing his prison sentence.

Hunt pled guilty on Jan. 28, 2016, to a two-count felony information charging him with sexual abuse of a ward, an inmate who was under Hunt’s supervision, and violating her civil rights.  The plea agreement states that on May 23, 2015, while Hunt was on duty at the LPDF, he sexually assaulted the victim in the facility’s laundry room.  In entering the guilty plea, Hunt admitted that the victim was in official detention and under his custodial and supervisory control when he sexually assaulted her.  Hunt also admitted willfully violating the victim’s constitutional rights when he assaulted her.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the FBI and the Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Adams and Holland S. Kastrin.

This case was brought as part of the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico, which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native American women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.