ALBUQUERQUE — John Youngboy Lodgepole, 21, of Fruitland, N.M., an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, pleaded guilty in federal court Nov. 3 to an indictment charging him with voluntary manslaughter. A grand jury indicted Lodgepole on Oct. 9, 2019.

According to his plea agreement, Lodgepole acknowledged that on Aug. 1, 2019, he and the victim, identified in court records as Jane Doe, were drinking and that he became angry when she started calling him names and provoking him. He threw the victim to the ground, kicked her in the head multiple times, and punched her about 10 times in the face and head. Lodgepole then used a cinder block to smash the back of the victim’s head. Seeing...

ALBUQUERQUE — Garrith Bitsilly, 33, of Newcomb, N.M., an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced on Oct. 29 in federal court in Albuquerque to five years and three months in prison for abusive sexual contact in Indian Country.

Bitsilly pleaded guilty to the offense on June 1.  In his plea agreement, he admitted committing this crime on the Navajo Reservation in San Juan County between Feb. 1, 2014, and Aug. 31, 2014. Bitsilly acknowledged that he caused sexual contact with a child under the age of 12 at a family member’s residence.

In addition to his prison sentence, Bitsilly will be subject to nine years of supervised release.

The Farmington office of the FBI...

ALBUQUERQUE— Ferlando Wadsworth, 38, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, appeared in federal court Nov. 5 to face charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

On Oct. 14, Wadsworth allegedly met with two associates to purchase food stamps. When one of them refused to get into a vehicle with him, he brandished a shotgun and followed her to back to a vehicle driven by a second woman. When she tried to drive away, Wadsworth allegedly tried to open the door and fired at the vehicle.

Then he fled.

The incident took place on the Navajo Nation. Wadsworth is a previously convicted...

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer signed a proclamation Nov. 1 to recognize the month of November as “Navajo Nation Adoption Awareness Month” to stress that there are hundreds of Navajo children who receive foster care services while waiting to be adopted by a loving family.

The proclamation states that there is a critical need to increase awareness regarding the number of Navajo children and teens in need of a permanent home on the Navajo Nation. Many Navajo youths will “age out” of the foster care system before they can find a forever home.

“Every Navajo child deserves a stable, loving, forever family. As Diné, our...