Defendant Prosecuted as Part of Federal Initiative to Address the Epidemic Incidence of Violence Against Native Women
ALBUQUERQUE - Junior Cornfield, 34, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Gallup, N.M., was sentenced today in Albuquerque, N.M., federal court to 63 months in prison for assaulting a woman with a hammer intending to cause bodily injury. Cornfield will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.
On June 14, 2018, Cornfield pled guilty to a felony information charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon. He admitted that on Nov. 25, 2017, he struck the victim with a hammer, causing her to become unconscious. Cornfield acknowledged that the victim suffered bruises and needed medical attention because of the assault.
This case was investigated by the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisa Dimas pursuant to the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both. The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was driven largely by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
