Zuni Pueblo man sentenced to 78 months in federal manslaughter case

A 49-year-old Pueblo of Zuni man will serve 78 months in federal prison for shooting and killing John Doe with a homemade shotgun in a December 1, 2024, fatal encounter in Zuni Pueblo. Glendon Laate pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, bringing to a close a case that began as a second-degree murder charge in Indian Country.

The sentence leaves Laate facing three years of supervised release after prison. Federal prosecutors said he was eligible for up to 15 years at sentencing, and the Justice Department noted that there is no parole in the federal system, meaning the prison term is served without traditional parole release.

The case moved through the federal system with help from the FBI’s Gallup Resident Agency and the Zuni Police Department, under the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico. Prosecutors said Laate used a homemade firearm in the shooting, and court records later resolved the case through the manslaughter plea rather than the original murder charge.

For McKinley County and Zuni residents, the sentence underscores how violent crimes on tribal land are handled when they fall under federal jurisdiction. The FBI says its Indian Country Crime work relies on coordination with tribal police and other law-enforcement agencies to investigate major crimes, including homicides, on tribal lands. In this case, that meant a fatal shooting in Zuni Pueblo was investigated by local and federal authorities and ended with a fixed federal prison term rather than a state or tribal prosecution.

The federal announcement was made by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison and Justin A. Garris, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Burkhead is prosecuting the case. Court documents identified the victim only as John Doe, and no additional family information was disclosed in the sentencing materials.