Enrolled member of the Acoma Pueblo sentenced to five years in federal prison for sexual abuse in Indian Country

ALBUQERQUE, N.M. – Estevan Antonio, 26, of Acoma, New Mexico, and an enrolled member of the Acoma Pueblo, was sentenced in federal court on Dec. 9 to five years and three months in prison for sexual abuse in Indian Country.

Antonio pleaded guilty on June 28, 2019. According to the plea agreement, on the night of July 5, 2017, and into the morning of July 6, 2017, Antonio sexually abused the victim, identified in court records as Jane Doe. Antonio sexually abused the victim knowing she was incapable of declining to participate. The offense took place on the Acoma Pueblo in Cibola County, New Mexico.

Upon his release from prison, Antonio will be subject to five years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender.

The Southern Pueblos of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) investigated this case with assistance from the Acoma Pueblo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Spindle prosecuted the case as part of the Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.  Individuals with information relating to suspected child predators and suspected child abuse are encouraged to contact the Children’s Advocacy Center tipline at (575) 526-3437.