ALBUQUERQUE - Christopher Bigmouth, 25, an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Nation who resides in Mescalero, N.M., pleaded guilty this afternoon in Las Cruces, N.M., to an assault resulting in serious bodily injury charge. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Bigmouth will be sentenced to 84 months in prison followed by a term of supervised release to be determined by the court.
Bigmouth was arrested on Feb. 20, 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with assaulting a 14-month-old child on Aug. 22, 2014, by dropping the victim on her head three times. It alleged that the assault occurred on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation in Otero County, N.M., The victim was seriously injured and required emergency brain surgery to reduce swelling of the brain.
During today’s proceedings, Bigmouth pled guilty to a felony information charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury. In entering the plea, Bigmouth admitted that on Aug. 22, 2014, he intentionally dropped the victim on the floor three times, and that his actions resulted in several injuries to the victim including significant brain swelling requiring emergency surgery and long term cognitive, motor and visual impairment. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
This case was investigated by Las Cruces office of the FBI and the Mescalero Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and is being 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
