Terrence Shije, 37, an enrolled member and resident of Zia Pueblo, N.M., was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Albuquerque to a year and a day in prison for beating his pregnant intimate partner in a violent domestic assault. The conviction, under federal habitual offender laws, marks the latest consequence in a pattern of repeated violence Shije has inflicted on those closest to him.
On May 16, 2017, Shije attacked the woman inside a residence on Zia Pueblo in Sandoval County, slapping her face and punching her near the eye socket because he didn’t want her to leave, according to his sworn guilty plea. The victim, who was pregnant at the time, suffered visible swelling, bruising, and bumps around her eye—physical trauma that federal prosecutors said underscored the brutality of the assault.
Shije was arrested on June 2, 2017, and initially charged with domestic assault by a habitual offender. A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment on June 28, 2017, adding a charge of assault resulting in substantial bodily injury. The habitual offender charge was based on two prior domestic violence convictions in Zia Tribal Court—June 2015 for battery on a household member and another in August 2016 for the same offense.
On October 6, 2017, Shije pleaded guilty to Count 2: domestic assault by a habitual offender. In court, he admitted not only to the 2017 attack but also to his criminal history, accepting responsibility for a cycle of violence that escalated when he targeted a vulnerable victim—his pregnant partner—on tribal land, where federal jurisdiction often applies in violent cases involving Native Americans.
The case was investigated by the Southern Pueblos Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Office of Justice Services, which routinely handles violent crimes in Pueblo jurisdictions. Prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Nayback and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lucy B. Solimon, working under the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project in the District of New Mexico.
The Tribal SAUSA program, funded by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women and administered through the Pueblo of Laguna, trains tribal prosecutors in federal law to close gaps in accountability. Shije’s conviction is one tangible result of that effort—ensuring habitual abusers like him can’t exploit jurisdictional seams between tribal and federal systems. After his release, Shije will serve three years under court-ordered supervision.
Related Federal Cases
- Acoma Pueblo Man Gets 57 Months for Choking Intimate Partner · New Mexico
- Navajo Man Jailed 10 Years for Beating Infant Son · New Mexico
- Laguna Pueblo Man Gets 10 Years for Brutal Assault · New Mexico
- Zuni Pueblo Man Pleads Guilty to Domestic Assault by Habitual Offender · New Mexico
- Roman Trujillo Sentenced for Isleta Pueblo Home Invasions · New Mexico
Key Facts
- State: New Mexico
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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