ALBUQUERQUE – Patrick Yazzie-Tso, 28, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Santa Fe, N.M., was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to 42 months in prison for his conviction on federal assault charges. Yazzie-Tso will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.
Yazzie-Tso was arrested in Jan. 2016, on a federal criminal complaint charging him with assault. According to the complaint, on Dec. 13, 2015, the Pojoaque Pueblo Tribal Police Department learned of the assault when they responded to a domestic violence call on Pojoaque Pueblo in Santa Fe County, N.M. The complaint alleged that Yazzie-Tso assaulted the victim, a non-Indian woman, by punching her repeatedly on the head and face, slamming a large painting canvas on her, and strangling her by wrapping his hands around her neck and throat.
Yazzie-Tso was subsequently indicted on Feb. 9, 2016, and charged with assault resulting in serious bodily injury and strangling an intimate partner. On June 1, 2016, Yazzie-Tso pled guilty to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement.
This case was investigated by Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and the Pojoaque Pueblo Tribal Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Spindle.