Kirby Cleveland, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, pleads guilty to murdering tribal police officer in 2017

           ALBUQUERQUE – Kirby Cleveland, 35, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation from Prewitt, New Mexico, pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to second-degree murder for killing Houston James Largo, a tribal police officer for the Navajo Nation.

           Cleveland pleaded guilty to an information charging him with killing Largo, with malice aforethought, in McKinley County, New Mexico, on March 11, 2017.  According to public court records, Cleveland became drunk and angry while at home with his common law wife and children.  His common law wife called the police and Officer Largo responded to the home.  Cleveland went outside carrying a rifle and shot Largo in the head, killing him.  Cleveland then went back inside the house where he admitted shooting an officer before fleeing the scene.  State, local, and tribal law enforcement conducted a large-scale search for Cleveland and located him the next morning hiding under a rock about 1.5 miles away.

           Cleveland is currently in custody awaiting sentencing currently scheduled for March 20, 2020.  He faces up to life in prison for second-degree murder. 

           Cleveland also pleaded guilty to violating the terms of his supervised release from a previous assault conviction involving an attack on a woman with a baseball bat.  Cleveland failed to abstain from alcohol and complete a residential reentry program as ordered by the court.  He faces up to two years in prison for this offense

           The Gallup and Albuquerque offices of the FBI and the Crownpoint, Shiprock and Chinle offices of the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety investigated this case with assistance from the New Mexico State Police, McKinley County Sheriff’s Office, Albuquerque Police Department and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph M. Spindle and Jeremy Peña are prosecuting the case.