Steven Archuleta, Assault and Firearms, New Mexico 2016

Albuquerque Residents Sentenced for Firearms Convictions

Albuquerque, New Mexico - In a recent federal court hearing, Steven Archuleta, 26, and his sister, Cheryl Shemayme-Archuleta, 33, both members and residents of Picuris Pueblo, N.M., were sentenced for their convictions on assault and firearms charges. The siblings, who reside in Picuris Pueblo, N.M., have been handed prison sentences for their involvement in a violent crime that left a non-Indian man injured.

According to the indictment, on July 17, 2016, Archuleta shot at the victims from his vehicle, striking the male victim in the leg, groin, and back. The indictment charged Archuleta with assaulting each of the two victims with a dangerous weapon, assaulting the male victim and causing him serious bodily injury, and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. Shemayme-Archuleta was charged with aiding and abetting Archuleta in committing the four crimes.

Archuleta was arrested on July 21, 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with assaulting a non-Indian man and a non-Indian woman with a dangerous weapon and using a firearm during a crime of violence on July 17, 2016, in Indian Country in Taos County, N.M.

On January 6, 2017, Archuleta pled guilty to a felony information charging him with assault resulting in serious bodily injury and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. In entering the guilty plea, Archuleta admitted that on July 17, 2016, he fired four rounds at the victims' vehicle, and acknowledged that the male victim was struck by shrapnel in addition to sustaining a gunshot to the leg. Archuleta also acknowledged that Shemayme-Archuleta drove the vehicle he was in during the shooting.

Shemayme-Archuleta also entered a guilty plea on January 6, 2017, to a felony information charging her with aiding and abetting the possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. In entering the guilty plea, Shemayme-Archuleta admitted that on July 17, 2016, she aided and abetted Archuleta when he shot at the victims' vehicle by picking up the firearm while knowing that the firearm would be used to assault the victims, and driving Archuleta when he committed the assault.

Archuleta was sentenced to 111 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, while Shemayme-Archuleta was sentenced to 60 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. This case was investigated by the Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA's Office of Justice Services and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Spindle.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/pr/siblings-picuris-pueblo-sentenced-prison-federal-assault-and-firearms-convictions