A 44-year-old man from Towaoc who pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal officer earlier this year has been sentenced to 60 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
On April 5, a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer responded to “a report of an intoxicated person” at the Ute Mountain Ute Casino, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.
There, the intoxicated person, later identified as Daniel Lehi, “lunged at the officer and struck him in the face,” according to the news release.
Security personnel backed up the officer, and “Lehi continued to fight until officers were able to subdue him.”
Lehi has a history of assaulting law enforcement officers, and that history was taken into account when he was sentenced.
In the news release, FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek said that attacking “a federal officer simply doing his job is unacceptable.”
“We fully support the officer who is a victim in this case and are steadfast in our commitment to pursuing justice in cases involving assaults on law enforcement officers,” Michalek said.
“Assault on a law enforcement officer is a serious offense, and this defendant received a serious sentence for his actions,” said Matt Kirsch, acting U.S. attorney, in the news release.
The BIA and FBI office in Durango spearheaded the investigation.
