Picuris Pueblo siblings plead guilty to 2016 Taos Pueblo shooting
Archuleta was in possession of a firearm provided by Shemayme-Archuleta, according to the indictment, and fired upon another vehicle occupied by two victims identified as a “non-Native male” and a “non-Native woman.”
Two siblings from Picuris Pueblo have pleaded guilty to a July 17, 2016, shooting on Taos Pueblo that left a man wounded.
The information was received through a news release this week sent from the office of Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth M. Martinez.
According to a federal indictment, Steven Archuleta, 26, and his sister, Cheryl Shemayme-Archuleta, 32, both members and residents of Picuris Pueblo, had been driving in a vehicle on an unspecified location on Taos Pueblo. Archuleta was in possession of a firearm provided by Shemayme-Archuleta, according to the indictment, and fired upon another vehicle occupied by two victims identified as a “non-Native male” and a “non-Native woman.”
The male victim sustained a gunshot wound to the leg and was also struck by shrapnel in the groin and back. The female victim was reportedly unharmed.
Archuleta was arrested July 21 and charged Aug. 10 with assaulting each of the two victims with a deadly weapon. He was also charged with assaulting the male victim and causing him serious bodily harm and discharging a firearm in relation to a “crime of violence.”
Shemayme-Archuleta was subsequently arrested and charged with aiding and abetting Archuleta in committing the crimes.
Both defendants entered their guilty pleas Jan. 6 in federal court in Albuquerque. Under the terms of the plea agreements, Archuleta will be sentenced to 84 to 156 months in prison, and Shemayme-Archuleta faces a mandatory sentencing of five years of imprisonment.
The defendants will remain in custody until hearings are scheduled at a later date.
According to the report, the case was initially investigated by the Northern Pueblos Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services and is now being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Adams.
