Enrolled member of Zuni Pueblo sentenced to 85 months in federal prison for kidnapping

            ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Adrianne Cellicion, 44, of Zuni, New Mexico was sentenced in federal court in Santa Fe on June 16 to 85 months in prison for kidnapping and carjacking in Indian Country. Cellicion is an enrolled member of Zuni Pueblo.          

            A jury convicted Cellicion of these offenses crimes on June 5, 2019.  According to evidence introduced at trial, Cellicion and two co-defendants Preston John, 25, of Gallup, New Mexico and Brando Largo, 28, of Crownpoint, New Mexico were traveling as passengers in an vehicle driven by the victim.  They ordered the victim to an area behind a building where Largo put a chain around the victim’s neck and choked the victim.  Cellicion then taped the victim’s hands together.  They blindfolded the victim and restrained the victim’s hands and legs.  John held the victim’s neck and took the victim’s cell phone.  They also tied the victim to a nearby tree with John’s belt before fleeing the scene with all his belongings.  The victim eventually escaped from the restraints, hitchhiked back to Gallup and reported the incident to law enforcement.  Cellicion was later arrested at a motel nearby.

            John pleaded guilty to kidnapping on July 5, 2019.  He is serving a sentence of five years in prison. Largo pleaded guilty to kidnapping on July 9, 2019.  He is serving a sentence of 84 months in prison.            

            The Gallup office of the FBI investigated the case with assistance from the Gallup Police Department and Navajo Nation Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Murphy and Frederick Mendenhall prosecuted the case.