Gallup Woman Sentenced to 78 Months for Assaulting Victim

     PHOENIX– On April 8, 2019, Seraphina Charley, 30, of Church Rock, NM, a member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced by District Judge Steven P. Logan to 78 months’ imprisonment. After a four-day trial, Charley was found guilty by a jury of assault with a dangerous weapon, assault resulting in serious bodily injury and making false statements to a government agency. 

     In March 2018, Charley intentionally struck her then boyfriend, also a member of the Navajo Nation, in the back of the head with a piece of metal rebar. During the investigation, Charley lied about her identity and created a false story that unknown males assaulted the victim. Due to the assault, the victim suffered permanent brain damage affecting his ability to walk and remember.

     The Navajo Nation Criminal Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. The prosecution was handled by Kiyoko Patterson and Dimitra Sampson, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.