Navajo Man from Utah Sentenced to Prison for Federal Involuntary Manslaughter Conviction in New Mexico

U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of New Mexico
14 January 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALBUQUERQUE – Bradford J. Billy, 33, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in West Jordan, Utah, was sentenced this morning in Albuquerque, N.M., to 46 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for his involuntary manslaughter conviction.

Billy was arrested on Dec. 2, 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with involuntary manslaughter. According to the complaint, Billy killed the victim who was a passenger in Billy’s vehicle, when Billy crashed his vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol. The crash occurred on Aug. 2, 2014, in a location within the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, N.M. Billy was subsequently indicted on the same charge on Dec. 16, 2014.

On Aug. 17, 2015, Billy pled guilty to the indictment and admitted killing the victim by driving recklessly on a gravel road while under the influence of alcohol. Billy acknowledged that the alcohol rendered him incapable of exercising clear judgment and a steady hand in operating a vehicle. Billy also acknowledged that he operated the vehicle without using due caution and with a reckless disregard that imperiled the lives of others.

This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback prosecuted this case.