Journey Through Indian Country, part 4

Teamwork Makes a Difficult Job Easier

“If you work with people long enough you establish a dynamic that works for you.”

— Louis St. Germaine, Navajo Nation

Louis St. Germaine, a long-time criminal investigator for the Navajo Nation, has worked closely with FBI agents over the years and recalls the surprise many of them express when first coming to Indian Country.

“Sometimes agents expect to see street numbers and paved roads,” said St. Germaine, who was born and raised on the reservation. “Out here, you make one wrong turn at an isolated place and go a few hundred feet and you can get very lost very quickly.”

“And when the sun goes down,” said Malcolm Leslie, another Navajo criminal investigator, “in some places on the reservation you can’t see your hand in front of your face.”

From the most basic task of finding a crime scene to more complicated matters regarding language and cultural barriers, FBI agents in Indian Country depend on their local, federal, and tribal law enforcement partners. And our partners rely equally on us—for expertise, training, and other resources.

“I don’t think one can do without the other,” said St. Germaine. “Navajo Nation investigators—we’ve been here a long time. We are familiar with the area, the crimes, and the people. The FBI is well skilled in doing investigations. So we combine our talents, and it works well.”

St. Germaine was one of the original members of the first Safe Trails Task Force, which the FBI created in 1994 on the Navajo Reservation and has since expanded to 15 locations around the country. The idea is to unite the Bureau with other federal, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to combat Indian Country crime.

Through the task force and other initiatives, the FBI provides invaluable training and equipment to tribal law enforcement. “It has helped us do our job,” St. Germaine said. “We are challenged financially on the Navajo Nation. The FBI supplies us with vehicles and other equipment. Without that contribution,” he added, “I think we would be in real serious trouble.”

“And without our tribal partners,” said Special Agent Lenny Johns, who supervises our Santa Fe Resident Agency, “it would be virtually impossible for the Bureau to accomplish its mission in Indian Country. Many times it’s just one FBI agent on the reservation dealing with a complex crime scene. The tribal criminal investigators and evidence technicians are critical to the process of conducting interviews and collecting evidence. Without them, we’d get very little traction.”

“The FBI brings resources that we’re in dire need of,” added veteran criminal investigator Leslie. “But they also bring knowledge.” Leslie has received a variety of FBI training, both in the classroom and on the job at crime scenes.

Donovan Becenti, a Navajo Nation crime scene technician, has processed many crime scenes with the FBI’s Evidence Response Team (ERT) and has benefited from FBI training as well.

“The partnership is great,” Becenti said. “ERT out of Albuquerque is where I’ve gotten most of my training. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today as far as my skill level. And they also provide equipment—evidence collection supplies and whatever else I need to help get the job done.”

Becenti was recently presented with an FBI Director’s Certificate for his many years of helping ERT process crime scenes on the Navajo reservation. “When you work alongside someone for 12 straight hours on a homicide scene in freezing fog and sub-zero temperatures,” he said, “it builds mutual trust and respect.”

Teamwork Through Coordination

The Indian Country Unit at FBI Headquarters in Washington is charged with coordinating the Bureau’s investigative efforts and responsibilities on native lands across the country.

“Our mission is to develop and implement strategies to address the most serious crimes in Indian Country and to support our joint efforts with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal law enforcement,” said Special Agent Michelle Gruzs, chief of the unit. “We also manage the Safe Trails Task Force program, which supports a variety of training opportunities throughout Indian Country.

The unit has the additional responsibility of implementing portions of the federal Tribal Law and Order Act. The 2010 law, designed to give tribal law enforcement greater control to fight crime in their local areas, also requires federal agencies working in Indian Country to report statistical information to Congress on an annual basis.

“We’re making progress on the reservations because we have strong partnerships at the local, tribal, and federal level,” said Gruzs, a former Indian Country investigator. “It’s all about working together.”

Next: A zero tolerance approach.

Navajo Man Sentenced to 30 Year Federal Prison Term for Aggravated Sexual Abuse of Three Minors

PHOENIX—On June 18, 2012, Shonnie Shidale George, 22, of Dilkon, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow to 30 years in federal prison. George was also sentenced to a lifetime term of supervised release and was ordered to register as a sex offender. On January 12, 2012, a federal jury found George guilty of four counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor.

The evidence presented at trial showed that George sexually abused a 4-year-old girl, a 6-year-old girl, and a 7-year-old boy.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Navajo Nation Criminal Investigators’ Office. The prosecution was handled by Cassie Bray Woo and Sharon Sexton, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

Former New Mexico Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Sexual Abuse

WASHINGTON—Lawrence Etsitty, 30, a former police officer with the Navajo Police Department, pleaded guilty today in federal court to two charges related to the sexual abuse of a woman who was in his custody on January 25, 2009. Etsitty pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of the victim when he touched and kissed her against her will while she was handcuffed. Etsitty also pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI in connection with the sexual assault. Etsitty did not enter a plea to the portion of the indictment that alleged the offense included kidnapping.

According to court documents, on January 25, 2009, at approximately 2:40 a.m., Lawrence Etsitty, while working in his capacity as an officer of the Navajo Police Department, arrested the victim outside of the Fire Rock Casino in Churchrock, New Mexico. Etsitty then handcuffed the victim and placed her in the back of his patrol vehicle. However, Etsitty then radioed in to dispatch that he did not have evidence for an arrest and that he was going to release the victim.

Rather than releasing the victim and under the auspices of driving her home, Etsitty pulled off onto an isolated road in the desert, choosing this location because of its isolation and because there were no other vehicles or people nearby. He then opened the back door of his patrol car where the handcuffed victim was sitting, and forcibly pulled her toward him and out of the car. Etsitty then began touching the victim while she struggled to get free and pleaded with Etsitty to take her home. Ultimately, Etsitty dropped the victim off in a parking lot near her home, at which point the victim ran away. On January 27, 2009, Etsitty voluntarily spoke to the FBI and made false statements in which he denied any sexually assaultive conduct.

“Any law enforcement officer who uses his official authority as a means of preying upon and sexually abusing a person in his custody undermines the trust between citizens and police officers that is crucial to our justice system,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice and the Civil Rights Division commends the victim who came forward to report this reprehensible conduct and will vigorously prosecute sexual assaults by law enforcement officers.”

Etsitty faces a maximum sentence of up to six years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque Division of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Fara Gold of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.