ALBUQUERQUE - Alcario Emilio Provencio, 24, a member and resident of the Mescalero Apache Nation, was sentenced this afternoon to 36 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for assaulting a minor in Indian Country.
Provencio was arrested on April 15, 2013, on a criminal complaint charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury. According to the complaint, Provencio assaulted a 16-month-old child who was in his care on Oct. 10, 2012, in a residence located on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. As a result of the assault, the victim sustained serious injuries including compression fractures of two vertebrae, retinal hemorrhaging, a fractured rib and numerous bruises on the head, face, neck and torso.
Provencio was in tribal custody on tribal charges related to the assault until his arrest on federal charges. He has been in federal custody since his federal arrest.
On Oct. 28, 2013, Provencio entered a guilty plea to a felony information charging him with assault of a person under the age of 16 years resulting in substantial bodily injury. Provencio admitted assaulting the victim by intentionally striking the child, and acknowledged that the victim sustained substantial bodily injury as a result of the assault.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the Mescalero Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
