Nambe Pueblo Man Sentenced for Assaulting Intimate Partner

ALBUQUERQUE – Anthony Nieto, 29, an enrolled member of Nambe Pueblo who resides in Zuni, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 18 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on an assault charge.

Nieto was arrested on June 21, 2016, on an indictment charging him with assaulting his intimate partner and causing her to suffer serious bodily injury. According to the indictment, Nieto committed the crime on Aug. 16, 2015, in Nambe Pueblo in Santa Fe County, N.M.

On Nov. 16, 2016, Nieto pled guilty to the indictment and admitted assaulting the victim on Aug. 16, 2015, by striking and kicking her, and causing her to suffer serious bodily injury. More specifically, Nieto admitted that the victim sustained bruising on her face, arms and lower extremities as a result of the assault.

This case was investigated by the FBI office in Santa Fe and the Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.

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.