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Jerome Yazzie, 37, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who lives in To’hajiilee, was sentenced in federal court in Albuquerque Tuesday to 480 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release for his convictions stemming from a June 2011 crime spree, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Yazzie was found guilty by a federal jury on Oct. 18, 2012 of a seven-count indictment charging him with two counts of aggravated burglary, one count of robbery, one count of kidnapping, two counts of using a firearm in a crime of violence and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, federal prosecutors said.
His sentence was enhanced based on his status as a career criminal — with, according to court records, 13 prior adult convictions including two prior violent felonies in federal court and tribal convictions for offenses ranging from auto burglary to aggravated battery, according to a news release.
“The lengthy sentence imposed on Yazzie appropriately penalizes him for a long list of federal felonies committed in a single night and the terror he inflicted on his innocent victims,” U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said in the release. “Yazzie has long been a menace to the community of To’hajiilee, and I commend the FBI and the Navajo Division of Public Safety for making To’hajiilee safer by making sure that Yazzie spends the next 40 years of his life in prison.”
9:04am 10/18/12 — Man Convicted in To’hajiilee Crime Spree
A federal jury in Albuquerque late Wednesday found Jerome Yazzie, 36, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who lives in To’hajiilee, guilty of burglary, robbery, kidnapping and firearms charges arising from a June 3, 2011 crime spree on Indian land in Bernalillo County, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
Jurors deliberated about six hours following a three-day trial before convicting Yazzie of aggravated burglary, robbery, kidnapping and two counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence, but they acquitted Yazzie of being a felon in possession of a firearm and a second aggravated burglary charge, the release said.
He faces maximum sentences of 14 years for burglary, 15 years for robbery and 10 years for kidnapping plus fines, and he also faces a mandatory minimum of 35 years in prison to be served consecutive to any other sentence of each of the five counts for his firearms convictions, according to federal prosecutors.
Yazzie was transferred from state to federal custody on Feb, 2, 2012, and he remains in custody pending his sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
Evidence at trial established that in the early hours of June 3, 2011, Yazzie forced his 15-year-old daughter and her 18-year-old boyfriend to accompany him in a crime spree that included burglarizing two residences in To’hajiilee at gunpoint, committing a robbery, kidnapping a young man and discharging his firearm, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
