ALBUQUERQUE - Orian P. Sandoval, 43, a member and resident of San Felipe Pueblo, pleaded guilty this morning to an indictment charging him with abusing sexual contact with a child between the age of 12 and 16 years. Sandoval entered his guilty plea without the benefit of a plea agreement.
Sandoval was indicted on an abusive sexual contact charge on June 26, 2013, and made his first appearance in federal court on July 11, 2013. According to the indictment, Sandoval engaged in sexual contact with a child between the age of 12 and 16 years on a date between Dec. 1, 2010 and Jan. 31, 2011, in Indian Country located in Sandoval County, N.M.
Today, Sandoval pleaded guilty to the indictment. Sandoval was remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service after entering his guilty plea and will remain in federal custody pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled. At sentencing, Sandoval faces a maximum penalty of two years in federal prison and a term of supervised release to be determined by the court. He will be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence.
This case was investigated by the Southern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul H. Spiers as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
