ALBUQUERQUE - Lester Nieto, 28, of Kewa Pueblo, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for his statutory rape conviction. Nieto will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.
Nieto was arrested on March 5, 2013, on an indictment charging him with engaging in a sexual act with a child between the age of 12 and 16 years on Jan. 1, 2012, in a location within Kewa Pueblo. Nieto entered a guilty plea to the indictment on Sept. 13, 2013, and was remanded into custody pending his sentencing hearing.
This case was investigated by the Southern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback. The case was brought 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
