Habitual Domestic Violence Offender from Isleta Pueblo Sentenced for Assaulting Isleta Pueblo Woman

ALBUQUERQUE – Daniel V. Olguin, 29, an enrolled member of the Isleta Pueblo who resides in Bosque Farms, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 37 months in prison for his assault conviction.  Olguin will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

Olguin was arrested on Jan. 15, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm.  According to the complaint, Olguin assaulted the victim, an Isleta Pueblo woman, by striking and punching her repeatedly with a closed fist on Dec. 19, 2015.  The complaint also asserted that Olguin strangled the victim on Dec. 18-19, 2015.

Olguin was subsequently indicted on Feb. 9, 2016, and charged with assault resulting in serious bodily injury and assault by a habitual offender which occurred between Dec. 18 and 19, 2015 in Indian Country in Valencia County.  According to the indictment, Olguin was previously convicted of domestic violence, battery on a household member and aggravated assault in Isleta Tribal Court in 2009 and 2012.

On April 1, 2016, Olguin pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury.  In entering the guilty plea, Olguin admitted that on Dec. 19, 2015, he assaulted the victim by striking her with a closed fist on her face and head.  The victim suffered bilateral nasal bone fractures and a minimally displaced left zygomatic fracture as a result of the assault, which took place on the Isleta Pueblo.

This case was investigated by the Southern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and the Isleta Pueblo Tribal Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Niki Tapia-Brito prosecuted the case.

The case was brought pursuant to the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico, which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.