Mescalero Apache Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For Domestic Assault by A Habitual Offender Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – Lonnie Ray Youngman, 45, was sentenced this afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to 38 months if federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on assault with a dangerous weapon and domestic assault by a habitual offender charges.  The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez and DuWayne W. Honahni, Sr., Special Agent in Charge of District IV of BIA’s Office of Justice Services.

Youngman, a member of the Mescalero Apache Nation who resides in Mescalero, N.M., was arrested on July 8, 2013, on a criminal complaint alleging that he assaulted his domestic partner, a Mescalero Apache woman.  Youngman subsequently was indicted and charged with assaulting the victim with a dangerous weapon on Jan. 6, 2012, and assaulting the victim on Jan. 5, 2012.  Youngman was charged as a habitual domestic offender because he previously had been convicted on domestic assault charges in May 1996 and April 2010.

On March 5, 2014, Youngman entered a guilty plea to the indictment and admitted assaulting the victim on Jan. 5, 2012, by striking her with a wooden table leg.  He also admitted assaulting the victim on Jan. 6, 2012, by punching, kicking and biting her.  The victim sustained serious bodily injuries, including contusions on the face, scalp, neck and arm, a deviated septum, and bite marks, as a result of the assaults.  Both assaults occurred within the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

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

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.