Navajo Man from Socorro County Pleads Guilty to Federal Assault Charge

ALBUQUERQUE – Zane Vicente, 26, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Magdalena, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to an assault charge.  Vicente’s plea agreement recommends that he be sentenced within the range of 24 to 30 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

Vicente was arrested on Sept. 29, 2017, on a criminal complaint charging him with stabbing a Navajo man with a knife.  Vicente subsequently was indicted on Oct. 24, 2017, and was charged with assault resulting in serious bodily injury on July 29, 2017, on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Socorro County, N.M.

During today’s proceedings, Vicente pled guilty to the indictment, and admitted that on July 29, 2017, he stabbed the victim in the torso with a knife.  Vicente acknowledged that the victim underwent surgery to repair a hernia to his diaphragm and other injuries caused by the stab wound he inflicted.

Vicente has been in custody since Jan. 2018, and will remain detained pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Murphy.