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Suspect enters new guilty plea in the case of missing Navajo grandmother Ella Mae Begay
Tolth admitted taking Begay’s truck by force and faces up to five years in federal prison, with three years already served credited.
- On Thursday, Preston Henry Tolth pleaded guilty to robbery in Phoenix as part of a second plea agreement, facing a maximum of five years in federal prison with credit for three years already served.
- Ella Mae Begay, 62, vanished in 2021 from Sweetwater, Arizona, fueling national concern about violence against Native Americans; U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes previously ruled Tolth's FBI confession inadmissible due to coercion.
- Under the plea agreement, Tolth acknowledged using force to take Begay's pickup truck, striking her and leaving her roadside before selling the vehicle for cash and methamphetamine.
- Gerald Begay, calling from Denver, plans to urge the judge to reject the agreement; Seraphine Warren told the court "accountability is not time served." Prosecutors maintain they complied with federal victims' rights laws.
- Scheduled for review in May, the plea agreement shields Tolth from future murder or manslaughter charges while the case continues to underscore the crisis of missing persons within Indian Country.
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Total News Sources23
Leaning Left7Leaning Right2Center12Last UpdatedBias Distribution57% Center
Bias Distribution
- 57% of the sources are Center
57% Center
L 33%
C 57%
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