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Member of Mescalero Apache Tribe sentenced to 21-months on federal assault conviction

From Staff Reports

Patrick Moquino, 39, an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Nation, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to 21 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on an assault charge.

The U.S. Attorney's Office logo

On June 13, 2018, Moquino pleaded guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury.   He admitted assaulting an Apache man on March 14, 2017, on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation in Otero County,according to information from the Las Cruces office of the U.S. Attorney.

Moquino committed the assault by punching and kicking the victim while the victim was lying on the ground. Moquino further admitted that the victim suffered a fractured nose and head trauma as the result of the assault, according to the release.

The case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the FBI and the Mescalero Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Justice Services, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron O. Jordan of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.