Man From Mescalero Sentenced to Prison for Assault in Indian Country

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced that Romeo Martinez was sentenced on Aug. 16 to two years and nine months in prison for assault resulting in serious bodily injury in Indian Country. Martinez, 23, of Mescalero, New Mexico, pleaded guilty on Jan. 25.

According to the plea agreement and other court records, on June 29, 2021, Martinez arrived at his grandmother's residence on the Mescalero Apache Reservation and confronted his grandmother and her sister, identified in court records as "M.B." Martinez, who is not an enrolled member of any federally-recognized Tribe, was not supposed to be on the Mescalero Apache Reservation because he had been banished by the Tribal Council for alleged violent assaults on Tribal members. Martinez accused his grandmother and M.B. of having his vehicle towed, and began to scream at them. Martinez attacked M.B., hitting her face multiple times, causing a laceration to her forehead, which required four sutures, and a broken nose and septum. As a result of Martinez's assault, the victim's nose is disfigured and her ability to breathe properly has been impacted.

M.B. is an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe.

Upon his release from prison, Martinez will be subject to three years of supervised release.

The Las Cruces Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Assistant United States Attorney Matilda McCarthy Villalobos prosecuted the case.

# # #