ALBUQUERQUE - Antonio Yazzie, 22, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Lukachukai, Ariz., was sentenced this afternoon for his assault with a dangerous weapon conviction. Yazzie will serve 24 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Yazzie and his sister Maraintoinette Lynn Yazzie, 26, also of Lukachukai, Ariz., were arrested in April 2014, on a criminal complaint alleging that they attacked a Navajo man at his home in Tohlakai, N.M., on Feb. 26, 2014. The two subsequently were indicted in May 2014, and charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of robbery. According to court filings, Yazzie and his sister allegedly assaulted the victim by restraining him and striking him repeatedly in the face and head with a rock and a coffee mug. The two then allegedly robbed the victim of cash and his truck.
Yazzie pled guilty on Sept. 9, 2014, to Count 1 charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon. In his plea agreement, Yazzie admitted striking the victim in the head and the face with a rock and a coffee mug with the intent to do bodily harm.
Mariantoinette Lynn Yazzie pled guilty on Sept. 17, 2014, to Count 1 of the indictment. She has been in federal custody since her arrest and remains detained pending her sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2015. Mariantoinette Lynn Yazzie faces a statutory maximum sentence of ten years in prison when she is sentenced.
This case was investigated by the Crownpoint office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul H. Spiers.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
