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Press Release

Mescalero Apache Man from Ruidoso Pleads Guilty to Assaulting a Federal Officer

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

ALBUQUERQUE – Nathan Little, 31, an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Nation who resides in Ruidoso, N.M., pled guilty on July 20, 2018, in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to assaulting a federal officer.

The BIA arrested Little on April 27, 2018, on a criminal complaint charging him with assaulting a federal officer in Nov. 2017.  According to the criminal complaint, Little assaulted a BIA officer on Nov. 18, 2017, punching him in the face repeatedly while he was being booked into custody at the Lincoln County Detention Center in Lincoln County, N.M., following a traffic stop that revealed that Little had outstanding warrants.             

On July 20, 2018, Little pled guilty to a felony information charging him with assault on a federal officer.  In entering the guilty plea, Little admitted assaulting a BIA officer on Nov. 18, 2017, by punching him in the face. 

Little has been in federal custody since his arrest on the criminal complaint and will remain detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  At sentencing, Little faces a maximum penalty of eight years in federal prison.  A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the Mescalero Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.

Updated July 23, 2018

Topic
Indian Country Law and Justice