Laguna Pueblo Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Assault Charge

ALBUQUERQUE – Keith J. Carr, 30, a member of Laguna Pueblo, pleaded guilty this afternoon to a federal indictment alleging a federal assault charge. 

Carr was arrested on Feb. 28, 2014, on an indictment charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury.  According to the indictment, the assault, which injured another Laguna Pueblo man, occurred on Dec. 20, 2012, within Laguna Pueblo in Cibola County, N.M. 

During today’s proceedings, Carr pled guilty to the indictment and admitted that the victim sustained serious bodily injury on Dec. 20, 2012, when Carr crashed the vehicle he was driving and in which the victim was a passenger.  According to the plea agreement, Carr was intoxicated and driving at a high rate of speed when he lost control of his vehicle and caused the vehicle to roll and crash. The victim sustained multiple fractures, nasal bone fractures, fracture of the pneumothorax, orbital fractures, and rib fractures as a result of the assault.

Carr has been in federal custody since his arrest and remains detained pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.  At sentencing, Carr faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years in prison.

This case was investigated by the Laguna/Acoma Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul H. Spiers.