San Ildefonso Man Gets 30 Months for Biting Fed Officer

Jordan Roybal, 26, of Santa Fe, N.M., is headed to federal prison for 30 months after pleading guilty to assaulting a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) officer in a violent 2016 arrest confrontation. The enrolled member of the San Ildefonso Pueblo was sentenced in Albuquerque federal court, where he now faces years behind bars and a further three years under federal supervision.

The assault unfolded on November 21, 2016, when BIA officers moved to arrest Roybal on tribal charges within the Pueblo lands in Santa Fe County. Instead of complying, Roybal resisted violently—cursing, lying about his identity, and physically attacking the officer. He threw elbows, challenged the agent to fight, and bit the officer on the wrist hard enough to break skin and draw blood.

The officer, a federal agent carrying out his duties, sustained multiple injuries: skinned knees, a scraped left hand, swelling in his right knee, and lasting soreness in his left wrist. Bodycam footage and medical reports later confirmed the brutality of the attack, which escalated quickly in the tense moments after Roybal refused to cooperate.

Roybal was initially arrested on a criminal complaint on March 3, 2017. A grand jury later returned a two-count indictment on March 28, 2017, charging him with assaulting a federal officer on two separate occasions—once in Santa Fe County and again on January 26, 2017, in Rio Arriba County. The second count was dropped as part of a plea agreement.

On July 18, 2017, Roybal pleaded guilty to Count 1, admitting in court that he intentionally attacked the BIA officer during the November arrest. His admission included key details: verbal threats, physical resistance, and the bite that sealed his fate in federal court. Prosecutors emphasized the need for deterrence against attacks on federal law enforcement.

The case was jointly investigated by the FBI’s Santa Fe office and the BIA’s Northern Pueblos Agency, under the Office of Justice Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elisa Dimas handled the prosecution, securing a sentence that reflects the seriousness of assaulting a federal agent in the line of duty. Roybal will serve his time in the federal Bureau of Prisons system.