U.S. Attorney’s Office Secures Sentence of Shiprock Man for Voluntary Manslaughter

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A Shiprock man was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison, the maximum penalty pursuant to the plea agreement, for the fatal beating of another man during an altercation.

There is no parole in the federal system.

According to court documents, on June 26, 2022, Morrie Lee Begaye, 37, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, started a fight with John Doe, also an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, at a residence in Shiprock, New Mexico, which is within the exterior boundaries of the Navajo Nation in San Juan County. Begaye attacked John Doe, and after the fight went to the ground, he punched and kicked Doe in the head and body.

John Doe was airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque where imaging revealed he had a large bleed in the space surrounding the left side of his brain. The bleed was large enough to cause the brain to shift inside the skull, leading to compression of vital structures of the brain. John Doe was in a coma, and the neurosurgical team deemed his injuries too severe for surgical intervention. The following day, on June 28, 2022, he was declared brain dead and granted others the gift of life through organ donation on June 29, 2022.

Upon his release from prison, Begaye will be subject to three years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

The Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Police Department and Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Caitlin L. Dillon and Brittany DuChaussee are prosecuting the case.

# # #