Navajo Man Receives 16-Year Prison Sentence for Child Sex Assault Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE—This morning, United States District Judge James O. Browning sentenced Leroy Allen, 41, to a sixteen-year term of imprisonment to be followed by a five-year term of supervised release based on his conviction for aggravated sexual assault. Allen also will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. Allen is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Waterflow, New Mexico. His offense of conviction involved a child between the age of twelve and sixteen, and occurred within the boundaries of the Navajo Reservation.

United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that, on July 22, 2009, a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging Allen with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of attempted aggravated sexual abuse. Allen was arrested on July 29, 2009 and released under pretrial supervision. Allen was remanded into the custody of the United States Marshals Service on October 25, 2010, when he entered a guilty plea to an information charging him with aggravated sexual abuse under a plea agreement with the United States Attorney's Office. In his plea agreement, Allen admitted to forcibly raping his step-daughter on January 15, 2007. Judge Browning dismissed the indictment at the conclusion of today’s sentencing hearing.

Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer M. Rozzoni prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety.