Non-Indian Man From Chama Sentenced for Assaulting Jicarilla Apache Woman

ALBUQUERQUE – Gabriel Armas, 30, was sentenced today to five years of probation for his misdemeanor assault conviction.

Armas, a non-Indian man from Chama, N.M., entered a guilty plea on March 17, 2014, to a misdemeanor information charging him with assault.  According to the information, Armas threatened to physically harm a Jicarilla Apache woman on May 12, 2012, in a location within the Jicarilla Apache Nation.  In entering his guilty plea, Armas admitted assaulting the victim by placing her in fear that she was in danger of an immediate battery. 

This case was investigated by the Jicarilla Apache Tribal Police Department and was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David Adams. 

This 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.