Police Blotter: Piñon brothers sentenced in kidnapping

PHOENIX — This week, two brothers were sentenced for their respective roles in the kidnapping and assault of three women, including a juvenile. Milfred James, 32, of Piñon, Arizona, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake to 72 months of imprisonment.

His brother, Delfred Lee, 29, also of Piñon, was sentenced to 81 months of imprisonment in addition to three months he previously served in tribal custody for the same offenses.James had previously pleaded guilty to kidnapping and Lee had previously pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon.

On Dec. 1, 2015, the brothers held three women at gunpoint against their will in a house in Piñon on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation. All parties involved are members of the Navajo Nation. The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Samuels, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

Shiprock man gets 78 months for assault

ALBUQUERQUE — Matthew Yazzie, 27, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, was sentenced today in federal court in Albuquerque, to 78 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on assault charges.

Yazzie was arrested on Sept. 21, 2015, on a federal indictment charging him with assaulting two women and a man on June 13, 2015, in Indian Country in San Juan County. According to the indictment, the victims suffered serious bodily injuries as a result of the assaults.

On March 4, 2016, Yazzie pled guilty to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement. In its proffer of evidence, the United States indicated that Yazzie assaulted the victims by crashing the vehicle he was driving while under the influence of alcohol.

This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI, the New Mexico State Police, and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elaine Y. Ramirez prosecuted the case.

Shiprock man sentenced in child sex abuse

ALBUQUERQUE — Harrison Cambridge, 56, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Shiprock, was sentenced in federal court in Albuquerque to 42 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release for his conviction on an abusive sexual contact charge. Cambridge will also be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

Cambridge was arrested in December of 2015, on a criminal complaint alleging that he sexually abused a Navajo child under the age of 12 on Dec. 20, 2015, on the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County.

Cambridge was indicted on Jan. 14, 2016, and charged with abusive sexual contact of a child under the age of 12. On March 31, 2016, Cambridge entered a guilty plea to the indictment.

This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Spindle as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and DOJ’s Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.

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