Mescalero Man Pleads Guilty to Assault

 of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced that Dennett Jerome Chee pled guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury in Indian Country. Chee, 37, of Mescalero. and an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, will remain in custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

A federal grand jury indicted Chee on Jan. 10. According to the indictment and other court records, in May of 2022, Chee assaulted a victim, identified as John Doe, in Otero County, New Mexico, on the Mescalero Apache reservation. The assault resulted in serious bodily injury to John Doe.

At sentencing, Chee faces up to 10 years in prison.

The FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Eliot Neal is prosecuting the case.

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