Shiprock Man Sentenced for Federal Misdemeanor Assault Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE – James Sorrelhorse, Jr., 26, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to time served (131 days) followed by two years of probation for his misdemeanor assault conviction.

Sorrelhorse was arrested on Feb. 17, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with stabbing another Navajo man on Nov. 20, 2011, in Shiprock, on the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, N.M.

On April 17, 2015, Sorrelhorse entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor information charging him with assault by striking.  In entering his guilty plea, Sorrelhorse admitted that on Nov. 20, 2011, he grabbed and assaulted the victim by striking him on the face and head.

This case was investigated by the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Mott.