Mescalero Apache Man Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanor Assault Charge

ALBUQUERQUE – Julius Scott Mendez, 21, a member of the Mescalero Apache Nation who resides in Mescalero, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning to a misdemeanor information charging him with assault. The guilty plea was entered without the benefit of a plea agreement. 

Mendez was arrested on Oct. 10, 2013, on a criminal complaint charging him with assault.  According to court filings, Mendez assaulted the victim, another Mescalero Apache man in a location within the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

During today’s plea hearing, Mendez admitted to assaulting the victim in the early morning hours of Oct. 10, 2013, by kicking the victim in the face and chest.  Mendez also acknowledged that, at the time of the assault, the victim was lying on the ground and unable to defend himself.

Mendez faces a maximum penalty of a year in prison when he is sentenced.  His sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.  Mendez was remanded into custody following entry of his guilty plea and will be held pending a detention hearing scheduled for June 30, 2014.

This case was investigated by the Mescalero Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.