Non-Indian From Chimayo Sentenced to Thirty Months in Prison for Robbing Santa Clara Pueblo Man

ALBUQUERQUE – This morning, a federal judge sentenced David Ralph Martinez, 27, a non-Indian man from Chimayo, N.M., for robbing a Santa Clara Pueblo man on the Santa Clara Pueblo Reservation in Rio Arriba County, N.M. Martinez will serve 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Martinez also was ordered to pay $148.51 in restitution to the victim of the robbery and $140 to the U.S. New Mexico Credit Union.

Martinez’s sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales and DuWayne W. Honahni, Sr., Special Agent in Charge of District IV of BIA’s Office of Justice Services.

Martinez was arrested on a criminal complaint on Aug. 10, 2011, and has been in federal custody since that time. On Aug. 23, 2011, Martinez was indicted and charged with (1) armed robbery and (2) assault with a dangerous weapon in an indictment on Aug. 23, 2011.

On Dec. 6, 2011, Martinez entered a guilty plea to Count 1 of the indictment, charging him with armed robbery. In entering his guilty plea, Martinez admitted robbing an enrolled member of Santa Clara Pueblo on Aug. 11, 2011. Martinez admitted approaching the victim at a credit union ATM located on Pueblo land and taking $140 from the victim by threatening him with a knife.

The Court dismissed Count 2 of the indictment against imposing sentence on Martinez.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services, Northern Pueblos Agency with assistance from the Santa Clara Tribal Police Department, the Espanola Police Department and the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Niki Tapia-Brito.