ALBUQUERQUE – Randall James Martinez, 25, an enrolled member of the Acoma Pueblo who resides in Los Lunas, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to nine months in prison for his misdemeanor assault conviction. Martinez will be on supervised release for one year following his prison sentence. Martinez was also ordered to pay $3,123.63 in restitution to cover the victim’s medical expenses.
Martinez was arrested on Jan. 11, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with assault by striking resulting in serious bodily injury. According to the complaint, Martinez assaulted his intimate partner, an Acoma Pueblo woman, by placing his knees on the victim’s stomach and chest, restricting her breathing, covering her mouth with his hands, and pulling out one of the victim’s teeth.
Martinez subsequently was indicted on Jan. 26, 2016, and charge with assault resulting in serious bodily injury on Dec. 22, 2015, in Acoma Pueblo in Cibola County, N.M.
On Aug. 15, 2016, Martinez pled guilty to a misdemeanor information charging him with assault by striking, beating and wounding. In entering the guilty plea, Martinez admitted that on Dec. 22, 2015, he assaulted his intimate partner by restraining her with his knees and covering her mouth his hand. Martinez further admitted that when he removed his hand from the victim’s mouth he pulled out one of the victim’s lower teeth. The victim sustained bruises, scratches and a missing lower tooth as a result of the assault.
This case was investigated by the Laguna/Acoma Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and the Acoma Pueblo Tribal Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Raquel Ruiz-Velez and Elaine Y. Ramirez.
The 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.