Second Mesa Man Sentenced to 105 Months for Meth Trafficking on Hopi Reservation

PHOENIX – Last week, Desmond Anthony Lomayaktewa, 27, of Second Mesa, Ariz., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John J. Tuchi to 105 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by five years of supervised release.  Lomayaktewa, an enrolled member of the Hopi Tribe, had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

The charges to which Lomayaktewa pleaded guilty stemmed from four incidents in which Lomayaktewa was found possessing methamphetamine on the Hopi Indian Reservation, all between August 2016 and March 2017.  Three times, Lomayaktewa possessed firearms as well.  Lomayaktewa admitted that he sold methamphetamine on the Hopi Indian Reservation throughout this time period and that he carried firearms for protection during and in relation to his methamphetamine trafficking activity.  In total, law enforcement seized over 300 grams of methamphetamine and four firearms from Lomayaktewa.

Lomayaktewa is the third defendant in recent months to receive a significant sentence for selling methamphetamine on the Hopi Indian Reservation.  On March 5, 2018, Johnny Baird, 31, was sentenced to 20 months in prison.  On April 2, 2018, Lawrence Maho, 54, a resident of Holbrook, Ariz. and an enrolled member of the Hopi Tribe, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

The investigations in all three cases were conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs – Office of Justice Services (Hopi Agency), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.  The prosecutions were handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Samuels, District of Arizona, Phoenix.