Non-Indian Man from Santa Fe County Sentenced for Assault on Indian Woman

ALBUQUERQUE – Manuel A. Caudillo, 29, a non-Indian man from Alcalde, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to nine months in prison followed by one year of supervised release for his conviction on a battery on a household member charge.

Caudillo was charged in a criminal complaint filed on Feb. 4, 2016, with assault of an intimate partner by strangulation.  According to the complaint, Caudillo assaulted the victim, a Pojoaque Pueblo woman, on Jan. 24, 2016, in the Pojoaque Pueblo within Santa Fe County, N.M., by strangling the victim with his hands to the point the victim lost consciousness, and by attempting to wrap a cord around the victim’s neck.  The victim suffered bruising to her forehead, redness to her neck consistent with being strangled and bruising to her arms and knees.

Caudillo was subsequently charged in a four-count indictment on March 8, 2016, with three counts of assault of an intimate partner by strangulation or suffocating, and assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm.  According to the indictment, Caudillo committed the crimes on Jan. 24, 2016, on the Pojoaque Pueblo in Santa Fe County.

On Aug. 18, 2017, Caudillo pled guilty to an information charging him with three counts of battery against a household member.  In entering the guilty plea, Caudillo admitted that on Jan. 24, 2016, he got into a verbal and physical fight with the victim.  During the fight, Caudillo grabbed the victim and pushed her onto a couch, and angrily grabbed and shoved her in a hallway.   Police noticed injuries that Caudillo inflicted on the victim. 

This case was investigated by the Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA, Office of Justice Services.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Marshall and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lucy B. Solimon 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.