Navajo Man Arraigned on Federal Rape Charges

ALBUQUERQUE—United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales announced that, on March 15, 2011 in federal court in Albuquerque, Sebastiano Coho, 20, was arraigned on an indictment charging him with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse. If convicted of either of the two offenses in the indictment, Coho, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, faces up to life imprisonment, a maximum $250,000.00 fine and five years of supervised release. Coho has been in federal custody since his arrest on February 17, 2011 and remains detained pending trial.

According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, Coho was arrested on January 27, 2011 by officers of the Ramah Navajo Police Department (RNPD) on a tribal battery charge after receiving a complaint of attempted rape occurring within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation near Pine Hill, New Mexico. The complaint alleges that Coho sexually and physically assaulted his victim on January 25, 2011 by striking her in the face and forcibly raping her despite her efforts to fight him off. Coho was arrested on February 17, 2011 based on the criminal complaint and was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 9, 2011.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the RNPD, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jack E. Burkhead.