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Crownpoint man pleads guilty to failing to update sex offender registration

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ALBUQUERQUE — Alton Jay Cowboy, 48, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Crownpoint, N.M., pleaded guilty April 5, in federal court in Albuquerque, to violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

SORNA, also known as the Adam Walsh Protection and Safety Act, requires that a convicted sex offender registers in each jurisdiction where the offender resides, where the offender is employed, or where the offender is a student and that the sex offender maintains current registrations.

Cowboy was charged by indictment on Feb. 27, with violating SORNA by failing to update his sex offender registration from April 4, 2017, through Dec. 27, 2017, in Bernalillo County, N.M.

During the proceedings April 5, Cowboy pleaded guilty to the indictment without the benefit of a plea agreement.  At sentencing, Cowboy faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. He will be required to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison sentence pursuant to his previous conviction.

In 1998, Cowboy was convicted in federal court for aggravated sexual abuse of a minor while in Mariano Lake, N.M. He was released from prison in 2009, and per the conditions of his release, he is required by law to register as a sex offender, every 90 days, for life.

Cowboy remains in custody pending a sentencing hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.