Police Blotter: Fruitland resident gets 6 years in prison for manslaughter

ALBUQUERQUE

Farrell Bowman, 29, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Fruitland, N.M., was sentenced Dec. 1 in federal court in Albuquerque, to six years in prison for his involuntary manslaughter conviction, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office.

Bowman was arrested in January 2015, on a criminal complaint charging him with involuntary manslaughter. According to the complaint, Bowman killed two Native American men with his vehicle when he crashed into their vehicle while he was driving under the influence of alcohol. The crash occurred on July 3, 2014, in a location within the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, N.M.

Bowman was subsequently indicted on the same charges on Jan. 21, 2015.

On Aug. 12, 2015, Bowman pled guilty to the indictment and admitted killing the two victims by driving recklessly while under the influence of alcohol, which rendered him incapable of exercising clear judgment and a steady hand in operating a vehicle. He also acknowledged that he operated the vehicle without using due caution and with a reckless disregard that imperiled the lives of others.

Bowman will be on supervised release for three years after completing his prison sentence.

This case was investigated by the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety, the Farmington office of the FBI and the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office.

Rakestraw to serve 4 years in prison for assault, manslaughter

ALBUQUERQUE — Joshua Rakestraw, 25, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Farmington, was sentenced Dec. 1 in federal court in Albuquerque, to four years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on involuntary manslaughter and assault charges, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office.

Rakestraw was arrested Nov. 3, 2014, on a criminal complaint charging him with killing a Navajo woman and assaulting a Navajo man, causing him to suffer serious bodily injury, on Oct. 28, 2014. The complaint alleged that Rakestraw committed these crimes while under the influence of alcohol in Indian Country in San Juan County, N.M.

According to court filings, Rakestraw killed one victim and seriously injured the other victim by running over them with his vehicle at Morgan Lake, south of Kirtland, N.M. At the time, Rakestraw was under the influence of alcohol.

On June 19, 2015, Rakestraw pled guilty to felony information charging him with involuntary manslaughter and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. In entering the guilty plea, Rakestraw admitted that on Oct. 28, 2014, at Morgan Lake, he drove his truck forward, striking both victims as he drove his truck over them. One of the victims died and the other victim suffered several injuries, including a dislocated hip and a broken rib.

This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.

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