ALBUQUERQUE - Tyrell Elliot Frank, 27, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, N.M., was sentenced today to 41 months in federal prison to be followed by two years of supervised release for his assault conviction.
Frank was arrested in April 2012, based on a criminal complaint charging him with assault. He subsequently was indicted and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. According to court filings, on April 1, 2012, Frank repeatedly struck another Navajo man with a machete. As a result of the assault, the victim suffered severe cuts to his left arm and his back.
In Aug. 2013, Frank pleaded guilty to Count 2 of the indictment, charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury. In his plea agreement, Frank admitted that during the early hours of April 1, 2012, people arrived at his residence and approached him. Frank stated that, because he recently had been released from the hospital after having been assaulted, he struck a person he did not know with a machete causing him serious bodily injury. Frank stated that he later learned that the victim did not intend to harm him.
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 Jacob A. Wishard.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
