Navajo Man from Utah Pleads Guilty to Federal Involuntary Manslaughter Charge in New Mexico

U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of New Mexico
17 August 2015

ALBUQUERQUE—Bradford J. Billy, 33, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in West Jordan, Utah, pleaded guilty this morning in Albuquerque, N.M., to an involuntary manslaughter charge. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Billy will be sentenced within the range of 37 to 46 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.

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.

During today’s proceedings, 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.

Billy remains detained pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.

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 is prosecuting this case.