Binding plea agreement

Shiprock man pleads guilty to second-degree murder for killing fellow Navajo Nation man

Wheeler Cowperthwaite
  • Prosecutor David Cowen’s binding plea deal mandates a 15-year sentence for Zachariah Joe
  • The magistrate judge deferred acceptance of the plea until the “final disposition hearing”
  • No sentencing hearing has been set

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A 28-year-old Shiprock man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, Oct. 31, 2019, for the stabbing death of a 32-year-old Navajo Nation tribal member at the beginning of the year.

Shiprock Pinnacle. Photo by DiAnn L’Roy/Flickr

Zachariah Joe pleaded guilty in federal Magistrate Court in Albuquerque to a criminal information charging him with second-degree murder, according to court documents.

According to the plea deal, Joe admitted killed Brett Micah Morgan by stabbing him 10 times in the chest and neck on Jan. 3, 2019.

The plea deal, signed off on by federal prosecutor David Cowen, states Joe would only receive a 15-year sentence, although any time spent on supervised release after serving a prison sentence would be up to the sentencing judge.

According to the minutes from the plea hearing, Magistrate Judge Kirtan Khalsa accepted the plea but deferred final acceptance to the “final disposition hearing” in front of a district court judge.

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Taylor James Enriquez receives 19 1/2 years for killing Alberto Nunez after guilty plea

Wheeler Cowperthwaite

See the full case here

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — District Court Judge Douglas Driggers sentenced Taylor James Enriquez to 19 1/2 years, July 6, 2018, the maximum sentence after he pleaded guilty, April 10, 2018, to charges of second-degree murder, false imprisonment and aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. Driggers’ sentence was the maximum under the plea deal.

Enriquez stabbed Alberto Nunez in the neck with a broken bottle, killing him, on Feb. 26, 2017, according to court documents.

Taylor Enriquez

He also attacked Manuel Lopez Polanco, who had injuries to his face. The attack on Lopez Polanco was the basis of the aggravated battery charge.

According to the plea agreement, signed by prosecutor Rebecca Duffin, Enriquez was going to face a maximum sentence of 19 1/2 years in prison and that the sentences for each crime would run consecutively, or one after another. His defense attorney, James Baiamonte, agreed that he would argue for a minimum sentence of 15 years followed by five years of supervised probation while prosecutors would argue for 19 1/2 years.

On July 9, 2018, Driggers sentenced Enriquez to the maximum allowed, 19 1/2 years. Although second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, Enriquez was also sentenced to the maximum sentences on the charges of false imprisonment and aggravated battery.

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Dennis Lovato sentenced to 12 years for killing man on the Kewa Pueblo

Wheeler Cowperthwaite

The summary of the case

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — On Oct. 24, 2013, Dennis Lovato pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for beating Joseph Melvin Lucero to death outside Lucero’s home.

Historic Kewa/Santo Domingo Indian Trading Post. Photo by Killbox/Flickr. CC BY-NC

In the binding plea, proffered by federal prosecutor Mark Baker and accepted by Federal Magistrate Judge Steven Yarbrough, Lovato received a 12-year sentence followed by five years of supervised release.

In his sentencing memorandum, Lovato’s attorney, John Moon Samore asked the judge to accept the plea and described the victim as a 61-year-old alcoholic bent on hurting Lovato.

“The Pre-Sentence Report fairly describes Mr. Lovato’s promising childhood, his disconcerting slide into youthful alcohol abuse, and his presence in the hours leading up to the fatal confrontation in the company of two middle-aged, severe alcoholics with long criminal histories,” Samore wrote.  “Whatever the precipitating factor, Mr. Lovato wound up in a ‘fight for his life’ with yet another middle-aged alcoholic, who was bent on hurting Mr. Lovato. Mr. Lucero’s extensive criminal history and violent past is fairly summarized in the PSR and Addendum. Mr. Lovato eventually overwhelmed Mr. Lucero, and the evidence indicated he administered more blows than necessary to defend himself.”

Baker wrote his own sentencing memorandum, asking the judge to accept the plea.

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