Navajo Man Pleads Guilty to Abusive Sexual Contact

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced today that Brandon Yazzie pleaded guilty to two counts of abusive sexual contact. Yazzie, 28, of Standing Rock, New Mexico, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was remanded into custody pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

According to the plea agreement and other court records, between December 1, 2020, and January 31, 2021, Yazzie sexually abused the victim, identified in court records as Jane Doe, who was less than 12 years old. Specifically, Yazzie engaged in and caused sexual contact with the victim—by touching her genitalia and breasts directly and through the clothing—and afterward, told her “this never happened” with the intent that his acts would remain secret. Yazzie committed the crimes at his father’s residence in Standing Rock on the Navajo Nation.

Yazzie faces any term of years up to life in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release.

The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Avondale (Arizona) Police Department, Navajo Police Department and Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Alexander F. Flores is prosecuting the case.

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