Navajo Man Pleads Guilty to Assault and Gun Charges
| U.S. Attorney’s Office March 18, 2013 |
PHOENIX—Lee Kinder Tso, 50, of Many Farms, Arizona, and a member of the Navajo Nation, pleaded guilty on March 15, 2013, in a federal district court in Phoenix to assault with a dangerous weapon and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
Tso had been charged with four counts of assault and four counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence. On February 3, 2012, Tso used a rifle to shoot two victims on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation, causing the victims serious physical injury. The victims were hospitalized with one victim being admitted for about two months.
A conviction for assault with a dangerous weapon carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. A conviction for brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence carries a minimum of seven years in prison to life, consecutive to any other prison time imposed, a $250,000 fine, or both.
Sentencing is set before Judge Neil V. Wake on June 3, 2013.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Navajo Nation Police Department. The prosecution is being handled by Jennifer E. Green, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.