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Press Release

Bread Springs man pleads guilty to manslaughter in Indian Country

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Jansen Peshlakai, 53, of Bread Springs, New Mexico, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, pleaded guilty today in federal court to voluntary manslaughter in Indian Country. Peshlakai will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

According to the plea agreement and other court records, on June 13, 2018, in San Juan County, New Mexico, on the Navajo Nation, Peshlakai used his vehicle to ram the vehicle of another man. In doing so, Peshlakai ran over the victim, identified in court records as John Doe, killing him. In the plea agreement, Peshlakai admitted that he acted in the heat of passion and lost self-control.

Peshlakai faces up to 15 years in prison.

The Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Department of Criminal Investigation.

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Updated April 26, 2022

Topics
Indian Country Law and Justice
Violent Crime
Press Release Number: 22-91