Laguna Pueblo Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Assault Charge

ALBUQUERQUE – Phillip J. Pedro, 35, an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo who resides in Acoma Pueblo, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to assaulting his intimate partner by strangling or suffocating.  Pedro pled guilty under a plea agreement that recommends that he be sentenced to 24 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release.

The BIA arrested Pedro on July 18, 2018, on a criminal complaint charging him with assaulting an Acoma Pueblo woman by strangulation on June 27, 2018, on the Acoma Pueblo Indian Reservation in Cibola County, N.M.  According to the complaint, Pedro assaulted the victim, his intimate partner, while she was eight-months pregnant.  The victim suffered scratches on her neck and back, red spotting on her left eye and inside her bottom lip, and bruising and swelling on her left finger as the result of the assault.  The victim was transferred to a hospital in Albuquerque due to the seriousness of the strangulation.   

During today’s proceedings, Pedro pled guilty to a felony information charging him with assault of an intimate partner by strangling and suffocating.  In entering the guilty plea, Pedro admitted that on June 27, 2018, he assaulted the victim by grabbing her by the throat and strangling her so she could not breathe.  

Pedro remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Laguna/Acoma Agency of the BIA Office of Justice Services.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisa C. Dimas is prosecuting the case as part of 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 ongoing efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.