Navajo Man Sentenced to Federal Prison on Involuntary Manslaughter Conviction

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Mexico
June 12, 2014

ALBUQUERQUE—Jeremiah Burns, 33, a member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Dulce, New Mexico, was sentenced this morning to 20 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for his involuntary manslaughter conviction. Burns also was ordered to pay $2080.25 to cover funeral expenses for the victim of his criminal conduct.

Burns was arrested in August 2013, based on an indictment charging him with killing a man on October 22, 2011, while driving under the influence of alcohol within the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation.

On January 3, 2014, Burns pled guilty to the indictment and admitted killing the victim while driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana which rendered him incapable of exercising clear judgment and a steady hand in handling a vehicle. Burns acknowledged operating the vehicle without due caution and with a reckless disregard that imperiled the lives of others.

Burns was ordered to surrender himself by noon today to the U.S. Marshals Service to begin serving his prison sentence.

The case was investigated by the Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI and the Jicarilla Apache Tribal Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback.