ALBUQUERQUE – Jothonnie Yazzie, 29, of Rocksprings, N.M., pleaded guilty on Jan. 8 in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to an indictment charging him possessing child pornography.  Yazzie entered the guilty plea under a plea agreement recommending a sentence within the range of 37 to 63 months in prison followed by ten years of supervised release.  He also will be required to register as a sex offender after he completes his prison sentence.

The FBI and McKinley County Sheriff’s Office arrested Yazzie on Dec. 20, 2016, on the indictment, which was filed on Dec. 7, 2016, and charged him with possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  According...

PHOENIX – On Jan. 8, Sergio Charley, 37, of Tonalea, Ariz., and a member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Douglas L. Rayes to 46 months in prison followed by a term of 3 years of supervised release. Charley had previously pleaded guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon.

On April 12, 2016, Charley assaulted the victim with a knife, causing the victim to sustain serious bodily injury.  The victim is also a member of the Navajo Nation and the assault occurred on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Navajo Nation Department of Law Enforcement. The prosecution was...

Erwin Alliosn

Dec. 30, 4:37 pm

2nd DWI, Aggravated

McKinley County Sheriff’s Sgt. Tammy Houghtaling was notified by metro dispatch that a man was found unresponsive behind the wheel of a blue Dodge Dart. Houghtaling located the car and approached the driver, Alliosn, 50. Alliosn was by that point awake and accompanied by a woman, 26. The woman told Houghtaling she was worried he was in a medical emergency, but Alliosn denied that that was the case, and admitted to having been drinking earlier in the day.

Alliosn was handing Houghtaling his license and registration when the sergeant smelled alcohol coming from his breath, and noticed that his eyes were watery and...

A fire ravaged an abandoned house on Maloney Avenue and 4th Street, between Ted’s Pawn and the shuttered Plese Grocery Market Jan. 1

The call came into Metro Dispatch at about 5:45 pm. One man was rescued from the building and treated for smoke inhalation. The fire was readily contained, and no other injuries were reported. Gallup Police Department Capt. Marinda Spencer said the man could face charges as he wasn’t granted permission to enter the home.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

By Babette Herrmann

Sun Editor