NAVAJO MAN FROM SHIPROCK SENTENCED TO

ALBUQUERQUE – This morning a federal judge in Albuquerque, NM, sentenced Thomas M. Navaho, 26, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, NM, to 51 months of imprisonment based on his previously entered guilty plea to an assault charge.

          Navaho was convicted of assaulting a Navajo man on April 27, 2018, on the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, N.M.  Court documents reflect that Navaho punched, kicked, choked, and threatening to kill the victim because he believed the victim called the police regarding a fight Navaho previously had with another person.  The victim sustained serious bodily injuries, including bleeding on the brain, a broken rib, lacerations requiring stitches and a wound to his left hand which became infected and required surgery, as the result of the assault.

           This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Marshall.