TWO FORT DEFIANCE MEN SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR ROBBERY

PHOENIX - Today, Corbert Goldtooth, 41, and Myron Tsosie, 38, both of Fort Defiance, Ariz., were sentenced by U.S. District Judge James A. Teilborg. Goldtooth was sentenced to serve 115 months in prison and Tsosie was sentenced to serve 78 months in prison. Goldtooth and Tsosie were found guilty by a federal jury on April 20, 2012, of two counts of robbery.

On July 31, 2011, Goldtooth, Tsosie, and another man approached two young men who were seated on a curb outside of a gas station in Fort Defiance, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation. The defendants claimed to be “Cobras,” which is a local gang. The defendants surrounded the two young men. Each defendant brandished a weapon throughout the robbery: a large knife with jagged teeth, a pocket knife, and a baseball bat. Defendants took personal property from the victims and shortly thereafter were arrested by Navajo police officers.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Navajo Department of Public Safety. The prosecution is being handled by Tracy Van Buskirk, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

CASE NUMBER:            CR-11-8190-PCT-JAT   
RELEASE NUMBER:     2012-216(Goldtooth)

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/