Little Water man sentenced to nearly 5-year sentence for his part in a 2022 assault
A Little Water man has been sentenced to nearly five years in federal prison after pleading guilty last year to assault with a dangerous weapon and agreeing to testify against his codefendant in a 2022 incident in which a man was beaten.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico, Alvin White, 54, a member of the Navajo Nation, pleaded guilty to the assault charge on Feb. 1, 2023, ultimately drawing a sentence of four years and nine months. As part of his plea agreement, he also agreed to testify against Shiprock resident Raydell Billy, his codefendant in an April 11, 2022, incident.
According to The Daily Times archives and court documents, Billy, White and Raynorma Billy burst into the Shiprock home of a woman and attacked her boyfriend on that date. During Raydell Billy’s March 2023 trial, White testified that he and his codefendant attacked the man with the intent of committing bodily harm. Both of them hit the victim, according to court records, while Raydell Billy discharged a firearm in his direction, then rapped the pistol across the victim’s skull.
The three intruders then left the property but not before one of them left the victim’s car riddled with bullet holes and smashed its windows, according to the release and The Daily Times archives.
Raynorma Billy pleaded guilty to being a conspirator in the assault on Feb. 28, 2023. She was sentenced to time served, along with three years of probation. Raydell Billy was convicted by a federal jury of assault with a dangerous weapon and violating the terms of his previous release. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in June 2023.
The three defendants were indicted on May 25, 2022. White was the last participant in the incident to be sentenced.
The case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and by the Navajo Nation Office of Criminal Investigations.
Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 ormeasterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.