A Phoenix jury has convicted a notorious sexual predator of 23 counts of aggravated sexual abuse and related charges, mostly involving minors, on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation.
Jefferson Gatewood, 44, of Carrizo, Ariz., and a member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James A. Teilborg to 14 consecutive terms of life imprisonment on April 22, 2013.
Gatewood’s convictions stem from a trial that began on Nov. 20, 2012, where 15 victims testified that Gatewood had sexually abused them, and physically abused some of them as well. The victims ranged in age from 5 years old to their early 20s at the time of the abuse.
The indictment charged Gatewood with sexually abusing nine young girls and teens dating back to 1992. Other sexual assaults were either barred by the statute of limitations or took place off of the reservation and out of the jurisdiction of the federal court.
Gatewood’s abuses began nearly 30 years ago, when he was still a teenager, and continued on a regular basis until 2010 when this investigation was initiated.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dimitra H. Sampson and Sharon K. Sexton handled the prosecution.
Gatewood was previously convicted of assault with intent to commit rape in an Arizona U.S. District Court in 1987, after he and two codefendants gang-raped a 19-year-old girl at knifepoint.
CASE NUMBER: CR-11-8074-PCT-JAT
RELEASE NUMBER: 2013-034_Gatewood
For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
Related Federal Cases
- Eric David Marrufo, Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child, Arizona 2006 · Colorado
- Anthony Ray Shirley, Aggravated Sexual Abuse, Arizona 2016 · Colorado
- Kendall Anagal, Aggravated Sexual Abuse, Arizona 2024 · Colorado
- Kelbert Jay Nez, Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Minor, Arizona 2013 · Minnesota
- Eric David Marrufo, Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child, Arizona 2001 · Colorado
Key Facts
- State: Arizona
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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