Police Report | September 21, 2023

Shiprock man sentenced to 3 years for involuntary manslaughter

ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, the United States attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced that Keanu Marcel Upshaw was sentenced to 37 months in prison.

Upshaw, 22, of Shiprock, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter on April 6, 2023.

According to court documents, on Sept. 16, 2021, following a night of drinking, Upshaw lost control of his vehicle as he attempted to take another drink of alcohol, causing it to crash and ejecting both Upshaw and his passenger from the vehicle. Upshaw’s passenger died from their injuries as a result of the crash.

A blood draw taken about two hours after the accident showed that Upshaw’s blood alcohol concentration was .18, which is more than twice the legal limit in New Mexico. Accident reconstruction showed that Upshaw was going between 69 and 80 mph in a 55 mph zone when he lost control of the vehicle.

Upshaw will be subject to three years of supervised release from prison.

Farmington man charged with arson

ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, the United States attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, the Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, announced that Ulrick Bruce Canyon appeared in federal court on a complaint charging him with arson of a dwelling within the maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.

Canyon, 40, of Farmington, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, will remain in custody pending a preliminary and detention hearing scheduled for Sept. 5, 2023.

According to the criminal complaint, on Aug. 28, 2023, officers from the Navajo Nation Police Department responded to a call reporting that a residence located on Indian Service Route 5081 was on fire. As a Navajo Nation criminal investigator was responding to the scene, he observed Canyon pushing a wheel barrel full of clothes down the same road used to access the burning residence.

When the criminal investigator questioned Canyon, he admitted to spraying lighter fluid around the inside of the residence and igniting the lighter fluid with a match. Canyon grabbed his clothes, threw them into a wheel barrel, and left the residence after throwing two 20-pound propane bottles into the fire.

The criminal investigator interviewed the home residents, John and Jane Doe, who advised that Canyon resided at the home with them. According to John and Jane Doe, Canyon’s behavior over the last several days had become erratic and violent due to drinking and drug use.

The Does further stated that they had left the residence out of fear and had been staying at a hotel in Farmington when they received the call that their house was on fire.

A complaint is only an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted on the current charge, Canyon faces life in prison.

Church Rock man pleads guilty to sexual abuse

ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, the United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced that Lathem Eskeets pleaded guilty to one count each of sexual abuse of a minor and abusive sexual contact.

Eskeets, 30, of Church Rock, New Mexico, will remain in custody pending a scheduled sentencing.

According to court documents, between August 2012 and August 2013, Eskeets engaged in a sexual act with a minor victim older than 12 but younger than 16. During the same period, Eskeets made sexual contact with a minor victim who was younger than 12 at the time.

Upon his release from prison, Eskeets must register as a sex offender.

Fruitland man sentenced to 8 years for sexual abuse

ALBUQUERQUE – Alexander M.M. Uballez, the United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced that Derek Lorin Blackhorse was sentenced to 97 months in prison.

Blackhorse, 34, of Fruitland, New Mexico, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, pleaded guilty to attempted sexual abuse on April 27, 2023.

According to court documents, on May 28, 2021, while intoxicated, Blackhorse attempted to engage in sexual intercourse with the victim, Jane Doe, while sleeping in her bed at her home.

Upon his release from prison, Blackhorse must register as a sex offender and be subject to 20 years on supervised release.

Drug dealer who distributed meth on Hopi sentenced to 3 years

PHOENIX – Vanessa Rene Dundon (aka Sioux Z, aka Suzie Q), 38, of Indian Wells, Arizona, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge Diane J. Humetewa to three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Dundon cannot travel to or be on the Hopi Reservation as a condition of her supervised release. Dundon pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

“Drug trafficking causes particular harm for tribal communities,” said United States Attorney Gary Restaino. “The exclusion of defendant from the Hopi Reservation is an additional tool to prevent future harm, and an extra measure of protection for Hopi villages.”

Dundon was stopped in her vehicle on the Hopi Reservation in April 2021, March 2022, and April 2022. On each occasion, she had controlled substances in her vehicle. At the change of plea hearing, Dundon admitted that on April 17, 2022, she possessed 58.4 grams of pure methamphetamine and intended to deliver it to other individuals in exchange for payment.

Bluff man sentenced to 300 months for murder

SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah man was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment and a term of four years supervised release after a federal jury convicted him of murder in the second degree while within Indian Country and using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and a crime of violence.

According to court documents and the evidence presented at trial in May 2023, Perry Maryboy, 59, of Bluff, Utah, unlawfully shot and killed another man while within Indian Country on April 13, 2018.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Maryboy, who was parked on the side of the road at the intersection of Country Road 443 and Summerhouse Road, escalated an argument with the victim, who was accompanied by the landowner’s granddaughter, after being told to leave the area by the victim. Maryboy exited his truck, retrieved a revolver from the backseat, loaded the firearm, and shot the victim in the back of the head as the victim walked away. The victim died on the scene before his common-law wife and her 7-year-old child. Maryboy then fled the scene in his truck.

“This was no accident. My view of that is confirmed by later facts when Mr. Maryboy made no assistance at the scene,” said Senior United States Federal District Court Judge David Nuffer. “Taking a life without apparent justification is an extremely serious matter, and doing it in a violent way is extremely serious. It is my judgment that Mr. Maryboy be placed in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons for 180 months on count one and 120 months on count two for a sentence of 300 months.”

“Mr. Maryboy’s violent act took the life of another person, causing great loss to his family and friends, who will bear the burden of this crime. That harm cannot be undone,” said U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins for the District of Utah. “We appreciate the work of law enforcement, victim service providers, and the prosecutors in this case who worked hard to ensure justice for the victim’s family and the community.”

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