Mescalero Man Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Federal Officer

ALBUQUERQUE - A Mescalero man has pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal officer after striking a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer multiple times during an arrest.

According to court documents, on May 29, 2025, Dominic James Isaac Sandoval Peralta, 24, an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, assaulted and forcibly resisted a Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services officer who was responding to a call at a residence on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. When the uniformed officer attempted to take Peralta into custody, Peralta advanced on him and initiated a physical confrontation, striking the officer multiple times in the head and causing injuries. The officer deployed a taser to subdue Peralta and place him under arrest. Even after being handcuffed, Peralta continued to resist by refusing to comply with commands to enter the patrol vehicle.

Peralta pleaded guilty to assault upon a federal officer involving physical contact and faces up to eight years in prison at sentencing.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

The Las Cruces Resident Agency of the FBI's Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney James Dickens is prosecuting the case.