A 33-year-old Aneth, Utah man has been sentenced to 35 months in prison after admitting he punched and strangled a woman, attacked a sleeping man with a stick, and then tried to strike federal officers who responded to the scene. Zane C. Yazzie will also serve three years of supervised release once he's out, according to court proceedings in the case.
The string of assaults happened between March 5 and March 9, 2026, within the exterior boundaries of the Navajo Nation reservation, according to Gephardt Daily. Yazzie pleaded guilty on July 9 to assault resulting in serious bodily injury within Indian Country, assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm within Indian Country, and assault on a federal officer, the outlet reports.
A Woman Beaten, Strangled, and Threatened With a Gun
Prosecutors say Yazzie assaulted a woman by punching her, strangling her with his hands, and threatening to kill her, per the Gephardt Daily account. He broke her nose in the attack and threatened her with a firearm. ABC4 reports the woman told police she suffered “extreme physical pain” and that her nose bone was “poking out,” and that Yazzie also prevented her from calling an ambulance.
A second victim, a man, was hit over the head with a stick while he was sleeping, the same report notes. Gephardt Daily's account places a knife threat against that man — in which Yazzie held a blade to his throat and said he would slit it — on March 7, while ABC4's reporting dates that same threat to March 9, with Yazzie allegedly telling the victim he intended to slit his throat once police arrived. The discrepancy between the two accounts could not be resolved from the available records.
Officers Attacked Trying to Intervene
When Bureau of Indian Affairs federal officers responded to investigate, Yazzie attempted to strike them with his fist in an effort to cause injury, according to the Gephardt Daily report. ABC4 similarly reports that Yazzie tried to hit the responding officers before he was taken into custody.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah Melissa Holyoak said Yazzie's sentence reflects the seriousness of his violent spree. She added that federal law provides additional penalties when violence is directed at federal officers performing their official duties. Holyoak also said the victims are recovering and that she hopes they find peace while Yazzie remains in custody.
FBI and Prosecutors React to Sentencing
Robert Bohls, special agent in charge of the FBI's Salt Lake City field office, said violence has no place in communities and that justice will find those who target innocent people or federal officers. Bohls said the FBI is committed to protecting people on tribal lands and holding accountable those who threaten public safety.
The case was investigated by the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office's Monticello Resident Agency and prosecuted by Brady Wilson and Sam Pead of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah. U.S. District Court Judge Anne Marie McIff Allen handed down the sentence, which includes time at a Utah correctional facility located in Salt Lake County followed by three years of federal supervision.
