DURANGO -- Timothy Merritt, age 57, of Utah was sentenced by
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Blackburn on April 9, 2018, to 24 years in
prison for the crimes of Murder in the Second Degree in Indian Country and
Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury in Indian Country. Merritt was convicted after a jury trial in
Durango on September 12, 2017. His
sentence also includes 5 years of supervised release, with the special
conditions of participating in a cognitive behavioral treatment program and a
substance abuse program.
According to evidence presented at trial, Merritt caused a
fatal car crash on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation while driving in the wrong
lane of traffic with a blood alcohol content between 0.23 and 0.25. The crash caused the death of one man and
serious injuries to his wife. Merritt
had been arrested for drinking and driving offenses on three occasions prior to
the fatal crash. Three months after the
fatal crash, Merritt was again arrested driving drunk, narrowly avoiding
causing another crash.
“I hope with all my heart that this conviction and sentence
brings some relief to the deep suffering Merritt caused his victims and their
family,” said United States Attorney Bob Troyer. “Our prosecutors and the BIA and FBI agents
worked tirelessly on this case, for that sole purpose.”
“This sentence reflects the ongoing efforts of the BIA and
FBI to aggressively investigate violent crime on Native American reservations
and seek justice for the victims,” said Calvin Shivers, Special Agent in Charge
of the FBI Denver Division.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation investigated this case.
The United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorneys
Julia Martinez, Jeffrey Graves, and former Assistant United States Attorney
Dondi Osborne.
The case is captioned United States v. Merritt, Case No.
16-cr-365-REB.
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