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Press Release

Indian Wells Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Kidnapping

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

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Yesterday, Elbert Philip Shabi, 69, of Indian Wells, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Michael T. Liburdi to twenty years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Shabi previously pleaded guilty to kidnapping.

Shabi admitted that in 2016 or 2017, he seized the victim as she fled from him on foot. Shabi threatened the victim and held her overnight against her will. The kidnapping happened on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation, where Shabi is a tribal member.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dimitra Sampson, Amy Chang, and Jillian Besancon, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution. 

CASE NUMBER:            CR-20-08030-PCT-MTL
RELEASE NUMBER:    2020-114_Shabi

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/ 
Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on Twitter @USAO_AZ for the latest news.

Updated December 18, 2020

Topic
Indian Country Law and Justice
Press Release Number: 2020-114_Shabi