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DURANGO, Colo.—A federal jury has convicted a New Mexico man of assaulting a federal officer in a Colorado jail.
A jury announced the verdict Thursday against 46-year-old Ronald Romero of Gallup, a member of the Nambe Pueblo tribe. Jurors deliberated for about two hours after a three-day trial in Durango.
Romero faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. A sentencing date hasn’t been set.
Authorities say Romero assaulted a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer in 2008 in the Ute Mountain Ute tribal jail in Towaoc (TOH’-ahk). They say he grabbed the officer’s face and gouged at his eye. They say the officer’s cornea was scratched.
The BIA investigated the case.
