Navajo Man Receives 136-Month Prison Sentence for Federal Rape Conviction

ALBUQUERQUE—United States Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales announced that earlier today, Sterling Clyde, 30, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced to a 136-month term of imprisonment to be followed by 15 years of supervised release based on his conviction for aggravated sexual abuse. After completing his prison sentence, Clyde will be required to register has as a sex offender.

Clyde has been in federal custody since his arrest on June 23, 2010. According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, on the evening of June 4, 2010, an adult Navajo female (the Victim), who later was sexually assaulted by Clyde, and her adult Navajo male friend went to a party hosted by Clyde at a residence in Shiprock, New Mexico. By 3:00 a.m. on June 5, 2010, the party was over and the Victim, her male friend, and Clyde were the only ones remaining at the residence. When the male friend went outside to use the outhouse, Clyde told the male friend to go home and locked the door. After the male friend departed the area on foot, Clyde told the Victim that he intended to rape her. Although the Victim attempted to escape out a window, Clyde pulled the Victim back into the residence, forced her onto a bed, took her clothes off, and raped her.

The complaint alleges that, at some point, the Victim’s male friend returned to the residence because he felt “something wasn’t right.” When Clyde heard the male friend knocking on the door, he turned away from the Victim and went to the door. The Victim seized this opportunity to put on her clothes and run out of the residence. The Victim and her male friend left the residence and reported the crime to the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety (NNDPS). According to the complaint, when NNDPS officers responded to the residence, Clyde refused to open the door and instead escaped from the residence through a back window and fled on foot. NNDPS officers maintained security of the residence while special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) obtained a search warrant to seize evidence from within the residence. Thereafter, the FBI obtained a warrant for the arrest of Clyde.

Clyde was arrested and charged by criminal complaint on June 23, 2010, and was indicted on July 14, 2010. Clyde entered a guilty plea to the indictment on February 3, 2011 under a plea agreement with the United States Attorney’s Office. In his plea agreement, Clyde admitted forcibly raping the Victim against her will. He also admitted that the Victim attempted to leave but he prevented her from doing so.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the NNDPS, and was being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer M. Rozzoni.