PHOENIX (AP) — A Fort Defiance man accused of a fatal stabbing has been sentenced to 17 { years in federal prison.
Prosecutors say 25-year-old Lodi Gene Bitsie II was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix.
He previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the April 2019 stabbing on the Navajo Nation reservation.
Prosecutors say Bitsie argued with the victim before punching him and then stabbing him in chest with a large knife.
Authorities say the victim died from the stab wounds.
The FBI investigated the case because it was on tribal land.
