A 28-year-old man from Zuni Pueblo has been sentenced to prison for a domestic assault conviction.
Christopher T. Tsalate was sentenced to 14 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his domestic assault by a habitual offender conviction.
Tsalate, a member and resident of Zuni Pueblo, N.M., was arrested on January 11, 2015, on an indictment charging him with domestic assault of an intimate partner by a habitual offender based on his two prior domestic violence convictions in the Pueblo of Zuni Tribal Court.
On April 14, 2015, Tsalate pled guilty to the indictment and admitted assaulting the victim, his spouse, on May 7, 2014, in McKinley County, N.M.
Court records reflect that Tsalate previously was convicted on domestic violence charges before the Zuni Tribal Court in May 2010 and October 2012. The victim in this case was also the victim in both of the prior tribal court cases.
The case was investigated by the Zuni Pueblo Tribal Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Novaline Wilson. It was brought pursuant to the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico which is sponsored by the Office on Violence Against Women under a grant administered by the Pueblo of Laguna.
The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both.
Related Federal Cases
- Vander Tsethlikai, Domestic Assault by a Habitual Offender, New Mexico 2016 · New Mexico
- Darrell Chino Jr, Domestic Assault by a Habitual Offender, New Mexico 2016 · New Mexico
- Matthew Vicenti, Domestic Assault by Habitual Offender and Assault by an Intimate Partner by Strangling, New Mexico 2021 · Alabama
- Deandre Lamont Brown, Domestic Intimate Partner Assault, New Mexico 2014 · Texas
- Terrence Shije, Violent Domestic Assault, New Mexico 2023 · New Mexico
Key Facts
- State: New Mexico
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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