Isleta Pueblo Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Assault Charge

ALBUQUERQUE – David Lucero, 40, an enrolled member and resident of Isleta Pueblo, N.M., pled guilty this morning in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to an assault charge.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, Lucero will be sentenced to a maximum of 24 months in federal prison.

Lucero was arrested in Nov. 2016, on an indictment charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury and assault resulting in substantial bodily injury.  According to the indictment, Lucero committed the crimes between May 9 and 10, 2016, on the Isleta Pueblo in Bernalillo County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, Lucero pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury.  According to the plea agreement, during the night of May 9, 2016 and into the early morning of May 10, 2016, Lucero was intoxicated and argued with the victim, Lucero’s intimate partner.  Lucero became upset and struck the victim in the face.  As the result of the assault, the victim suffered a cut on her eyelid and a torn tear duct, and required surgery to repair these injuries. 

This case was investigated by the Isleta Pueblo Tribal Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas J. Marshall and Jennifer Rozzoni are prosecuting the case 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.