SANTA FE—U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales announced that this morning, Tony Curtis Jr., 38, was sentenced to a 15-month term of imprisonment to be followed by two years of supervised release for his federal assault conviction. Curtis, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, also is required to pay $15,000 in restitution to the Northern Navajo Medical Center to cover the costs of medical care provided to the victim of his assault.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jack E. Burkhead and Jennifer M. Rozzoni.
Curtis was charged with assaulting a 22-year-old Navajo man by hitting him in the head with a sledge hammer on July 30, 2010 on property located within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation. The two-count indictment charged Curtis with (1) assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and (2) assault with a dangerous weapon. On April 21, 2011, a federal jury found Curtis guilty of Count 1, assault resulting in serious bodily injury, after a three-day trial, but was unable to reach a verdict on Count 2.
The evidence presented at trial established that, on the evening of July 30, 2010, Curtis bludgeoned the victim in the head using a three-pound, hand-held sledge hammer. The blow hit the victim on the left temple area causing a depressed skull fracture—an injury that required surgical repair. The assault occurred in Ya-Ta-Hey, N.M., a small community located about 10 miles north of Gallup on the Navajo Indian Reservation.
Curtis was remanded into federal custody after the jury returned its guilty verdict.
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