Contributed File Photo: The San Carlos Apache Reservation was rocked with 17 federal indictments.
Those indicted face various charges, including murder, manslaughter, child abuse, aggravated assault, arson, and sexual assault
Contributed Article/Courtesy U.S. Department of Justice
PHOENIX – Seventeen individuals were indicted federally, with most being arrested, following an intensive violent crime initiative on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. The charges filed in this investigation include arson, aggravated assault, firearms violations, domestic violence assaults, assault against an officer, child abuse, sexual assault, kidnapping, manslaughter, and murder.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation, with significant assistance from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the San Carlos Apache Tribal Police Department, and the San Carlos Apache Tribal Prosecutor’s Office.
Maximum sentences for convictions of these offenses range from five years to life in prison, with a maximum fine of $250,000. In determining an actual sentence, federal judges will consult the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges. The judges, however, are not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.
An indictment is simply a method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas C. Simon and Dimitra H. Sampson, District of Arizona, Phoenix, are handling the prosecution.
