Navajo Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Assault Charges

ALBUQUERQUE – Gregory Secatero, 32, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Albuquerque, N.M., pleaded guilty this morning in federal court to assault charges under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Secatero was arrested on Feb. 12, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury and child abuse in Indian Country.  Court documents indicate that on Jan. 17, 2015, Secatero was involved in a car crash that seriously injured two passengers, a female and a child, in Secatero’s vehicle.  Both victims were ejected from the vehicle; the female suffered a punctured left lung and seven left rib fractures and the child suffered a small subdural hematoma and left femur spiral fracture.  Two other children were in the vehicle, but were not seriously injured.  Secatero was intoxicated at the time of the crash.

Secatero was subsequently indicted on March 10, 2015, and charged with two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of child abuse for endangering the lives of three children.  According to the indictment, Secatero committed the crimes in Indian Country in Bernalillo County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, Secatero pled guilty to two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.  In entering his guilty plea, Secatero admitted assaulting the victims, causing them to sustain serious bodily injuries, by driving under the influence of alcohol. 

At sentencing, Secatero faces a maximum sentence of ten years in federal prison followed by up to three years of supervised release.  A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Crownpoint office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shammara Henderson.