Cudi Man Sentenced to Prison for Federal Involuntary Manslaughter Conviction

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Mexico
April 4, 2013

ALBUQUERQUE—Jervis Wilson, 20, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Cudi, New Mexico, was sentenced this morning to 37 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his involuntary manslaughter conviction.

In November 2012, Wilson pled guilty to killing Herman Willeto, a 52-year-old Navajo man, while driving under the influence of alcohol on March 2, 2012, on U.S. Highway 64 outside of Shiprock, New Mexico, on the Navajo Indian Reservation.

According to court records, on March 2, 2012, Wilson drank alcohol and then drove a vehicle recklessly. As he attempted to pass other vehicles at a greater rate of speed than the flow of traffic, Wilson struck a Jeep, causing property damage but not injuring the Jeep’s two occupants. Wilson continued driving at a high rate of speed and side-swiped a Dodge sedan, causing moderate damage to the sedan and minor in juries to the driver. As Wilson continued to drive, his vehicle struck a Ford truck that was towing an excavator on a flatbed trailer. Mr. Willeto, the driver of the truck, was killed on impact. Wilson’s blood alcohol level was 0.23 when his blood was drawn within three hours of the collision.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Safe Trails Task Force and the Shiprock Division of the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Niki Tapia-Brito.