Jicarilla Apache Man Sentenced for Assaulting Intimate Partner

ALBUQUERQUE – Terrance Julian, 30, a member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation who resides in Dulce, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 18 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for his federal assault conviction.

Julian was arrested on Aug. 21, 2014, on an indictment alleging that on Oct. 14, 2012, he assaulted a woman with a dangerous weapon, and brandished a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.  The indictment alleged that Julian committed the crimes on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in Rio Arriba County, N.M.

On Nov. 26, 2014, Julian pled guilty to Count 1 of the indictment charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon.  In entering his guilty plea, Julian admitted assaulting his intimate partner, a Jicarilla Apache woman, by striking her with a rifle.

This case was investigated by the Jicarilla Apache Tribal Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Adams.

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.