Navajo Man From Chi-Chi-Tah, N.M., Sentenced to Federal Prison for Assaulting Intimate Partner

ALBUQUERQUE – Mark Patrick Eddy, 45, was sentenced this morning to a year and a day in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for his assault conviction, announced U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez and Director John Billison of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.

Eddy, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Chi-Chi-Tah, N.M., was arrested on Jan. 14, 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.  Court filings reflect that Eddy assaulted his girlfriend, a Navajo woman, on June 21, 2013, at a residence located on the Navajo Indian Reservation, by kicking the victim in the head with his cowboy boots.
        
On Feb. 28, 2014, Eddy pleaded guilty to a felony information charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury.  In entering his guilty plea, Eddy admitted assaulting his intimate partner by throwing her to the ground and kicking her in the head, causing a laceration that required medical attention.  

This case was investigated by the Crownpoint office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David Adams.  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.