Navajo Man Sentenced for Assaulting Federally Commissioned Tribal Officer

U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of New Mexico
9 March 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALBUQUERQUE – Adrian Lopez, 25, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Fruitland, N.M., was sentenced this morning in federal court to 15 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release for assaulting a federal law enforcement officer.

Lopez was arrested Sept. 12, 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with assault on a federal officer. According to the complaint, Lopez assaulted a tribal officer who was commissioned as a special federal officer by the BIA on the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, N.M., on July 28, 2014, following a high speed vehicle pursuit. Lopez subsequently was indicted and charged with assaulting a federal officer.

On Dec. 10, 2014, Lopez pled guilty to the indictment. In his plea agreement, Lopez admitted being in a vehicle that was fleeing from tribal officers. Lopez admitted that he and another person fled from the vehicle after it crashed, and that they ignored commands from the officers. As officers attempted to arrest the couple, Lopez grabbed an officer’s belt and pulled him to the ground. Lopez then struck the officer in the head several times and pushed his head into the ground with his hands.

This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Mott.