FBI News:

ALBUQUERQUE – Emerson Pinto, 58, of Crownpoint and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced Dec. 29 in federal court to eight years and one month in prison based on convictions for two counts of abusive sexual contact of a minor in Indian Country.

Pinto pleaded guilty Aug. 11 and admitted that between Sept. 1, 2009 and Oct. 31, 2009, he knowingly engaged in unlawful sexual contact with two young victims, both of whom were under the age of 12 at the time of the offenses.

Pinto admitted to touching the girls for sexual gratification during a visit to the victims’ home on the Navajo Nation in McKinley County.

Upon his release from prison, Pinto will be subject to five years of supervised release and must register as a sex offender.

The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Novaline D. Wilson prosecuted the case.