Mescalero Apache Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Sexual Assault Charge

ALBUQUERQUE – James Darius Caje, 21, a member of the Mescalero Apache Nation who resides in Mescalero, N.M., pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon to a sexual assault charge under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Caje was arrested in March 2013, on a criminal complaint alleging that he sexually assaulted a Mescalero Apache woman on July 27, 2012, in a location within the Mescalero Apache Reservation.  He subsequently was indicted on that same charge.

During yesterday’s proceedings, Caje pleaded guilty to the indictment and admitted engaging in a sexual act with the victim who was lapsing in and out of consciousness and was thus incapable of appraising the nature of the conduct.  Caje further admitted that he committed this crime on July 27, 2012, on the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

Caje is in federal custody and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Caje will be sentenced to a term of 51 months to 63 months in federal prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

This case was investigated by the Mescalero Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.