Santa Fe County Man Sentenced to Ninety Days of Imprisonment for Trespassing on Nambe Pueblo Land

ALBUQUERQUE – Steve Romero, 32, of Santa Fe County, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to a misdemeanor criminal trespass charge, announced U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez and Special Agent in Charge William McClure of District IV of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services. Immediately after entering the guilty plea, Romero was sentenced to 90 days of imprisonment to be followed by a year of supervised release.

Romero was charged in a criminal complaint on June 14, 2016, with a misdemeanor criminal trespass offense. The complaint alleged that in Feb. 2016, the Nambe Tribal Council banished Romero, a non-Indian, from entering any land within the Nambe Pueblo boundaries. According to the complaint, Romero had reentered Nambe Pueblo land on four occasions between April 2016 and June 2016, in violation of the Pueblo’s banishment resolution.

During today’s proceedings, Romero pled guilty to a misdemeanor information charging him with criminal trespass. In entering the guilty plea, Romero admitted that he was served with a Tribal Resolution on March 7, 2016, excluding and banishing him from the Nambe Pueblo. Romero further admitted that on June 13, 2016, he entered and remained on the Nambe Pueblo for the fourth time after the Nambe Pueblo Tribal Council issued the Tribal Resolution.

This case was investigated by the Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Raquel Ruiz-Velez.