Northern Nevada tribal member gets 9 years for lamp attack
RENO — A northern Nevada tribal member who admitted assaulting a man with a broken glass lamp in Lovelock on New Year’s Day 2016 has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 29-year-old Rafael Medina Jr. was sentenced in Reno Tuesday after pleading guilty earlier to assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
Prosecutors say Medina repeatedly assaulted a man on his head, arms and body with a broken glass table lamp while within the boundary of the Lovelock Paiute Tribe Indian Reservation.
The victim’s injuries were so severe he had to be airlifted to Reno for treatment. He survived but suffered severe blood loss, the eventual amputation of a finger and staples and sutures for his injuries.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sue Fahami prosecuted the case investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
