NORTHERN ARIZONA MAN SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR ARSON

PHOENIX – Brennen Larry Nez, 21, of Lupton, Ariz., and a member of the Navajo Nation Indian Tribe, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow on January 30, 2012, to 39 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.  Nez pleaded guilty on November 4, 2011, to Arson.

On June 14, 2010, Nez got into an argument with his girlfriend at her mother’s residence located on the Navajo Indian Reservation.  While intoxicated, Nez set fire to the residence causing the victim’s residential trailer to burn to the ground.  Nez then ran to the second victim’s residence and set the stove on fire.  Although the fire at the second residence was quickly extinguished, a two year old boy had been asleep in one of the back bedrooms.  The two year old boy was checked by emergency personnel and determined to be unharmed.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Window Rock Police Department and the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety, Department of Criminal Investigations. The prosecution was handled by Christina J. Reid-Moore, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-2010-8171-PCT-GMS
RELEASE NUMBER:   2012-020(Nez)

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