\n<\/p>\n
PHOENIX — <\/span>The only person ever charged in the unsolved 2021 disappearance of Navajo elder Ella Mae Begay, whose case became emblematic of a crisis fueled by disproportionately high rates of violence faced by Native Americans<\/a>, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison.<\/p>\n U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes in Phoenix on Friday accepted an agreement in which Preston Henry Tolth pleaded guilty to robbing Begay. Under the agreement, Tolth was credited with three years\u2019 time served and prosecutors dropped an assault charge and agreed not to prosecute him in the future if Begay\u2019s case develops.<\/p>\n The sentencing effectively closes a yearslong case that has been troubled by a lack of physical evidence and the suppression of a confession from Tolth, who also is Navajo.<\/p>\n During Friday’s hearing, family members urged Rayes to reject the agreement. Begay’s niece tearfully reiterated that they didn\u2019t want Tolth released without him leading investigators to Begay. <\/p>\n \u201cA 62-year-woman is still nowhere to be found. No amount of time is enough if he won\u2019t tell us where she is,\u201d said Seraphine Warren, who later left the courtroom when it was apparent the judge was moving forward with the sentencing.<\/p>\n A beloved grandmother of nine and talented weaver of Navajo-style pictorial rugs, Begay was 62 when she vanished from her home in Sweetwater, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation in June 2021. Tolth\u2019s sentencing comes amid a week of awareness for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples<\/a> movement, which highlights the disproportionate number of Native Americans who are missing or have been killed. <\/p>\n In the years since Begay went missing, her family members have organized searches, pushed law enforcement for answers and even walked across the country<\/a> to keep a public spotlight on her case. Advocates have compared Begay\u2019s case to that of Gabby Petito<\/a>, a young white woman whose disappearance the same summer drew a frenzy of news coverage, social media attention and law enforcement action that ultimately led to the discovery of her remains in Wyoming. <\/p>\n Navajo Nation police and FBI agents identified Tolth as a suspect within days of her disappearance. Tolth, whose father was dating Begay\u2019s sister, initially denied any involvement. In a later interrogation, an FBI agent lied to Tolth, telling him police found Begay\u2019s truck and were processing evidence that would implicate him. In response, Tolth waived his right to remain silent and confessed to stealing Begay\u2019s pickup truck, beating her and leaving her for dead on the side of the road. <\/p>\n It is typically legal for U.S. law enforcement to fabricate evidence during interrogations. But Rayes ruled that in this instance, the FBI agent failed to \u201cscrupulously honor\u201d Tolth\u2019s initial refusal to speak and threw the confession out. A panel of appellate court judges agreed. <\/p>\n In the absence of that confession, U.S. Attorney Tracy Van Buskirk said Friday that the plea agreement was the government’s best attempt at securing a reasonable sentence. Speaking about Tolth\u2019s effort to help investigators find Begay, Van Buskirk said Tolth wasn\u2019t familiar with the Sweetwater area and had been drinking alcohol on the night when he robbed her.<\/p>\n In court Friday, Begay\u2019s son Gerald Begay called the agreement a \u201cfailure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be that way,\u201d Gerald Begay told the judge. <\/p>\n Jane McClellan, a lawyer for Tolth, said her client acknowledged robbing Begay, showed officers where he thought he might have left her on the night of the crime and doesn’t have further information.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is remorseful for his actions,\u201d McClellan said. \u201cHe has taken responsibility for his actions.\u201d<\/p>\n