Missing Indigenous Plea Rejected
- Thomas Peipert - AP
- Updated
Gerald Begay, whose mother Ella Mae Begay went missing from her home, shows a photo of her on his phone in Denver, Thursday, April 2, 2026.
Thomas Peipert - APAs featured on
A federal judge in Phoenix has rejected a plea agreement that would have allowed a man who acknowledged beating a Navajo elder and leaving her for dead to avoid more prison time. Preston Henry Tolth now will face trial on charges of carjacking and assault in relation to the 2021 disappearance of Ella Mae Begay. The plea agreement had called for sentencing the 26-year-old Tolth to the three years he's already served in federal custody. The judge said that's too lenient. Begay's case highlighted the broader crisis of Indigenous people who go missing or are killed. Nearly five years after her disappearance, Begay has not been found.
Currently in Reno
Most Popular
Articles
- 69 felony charges, including Medicaid fraud and identity theft filed against two Sun Valley residents
- Man arrested for alleged armed robbery of 7-Eleven on Silverada Boulevard
- Reno Pro Soccer begins demolition for new stadium project at former Jones West Ford site
- Man gets 167 years in prison for October 2023 shooting that injured 7 people
- Community rallies to fund headstone for Evelyn Mount
- One hospitalized after crash between three semis on I-80 east near Wells Avenue
- Deadly crash shuts down portion of SR 208 in Yerington
- Reno Police arrest suspected stalker, allege he left Tarot cards on victim's car
- Habitual criminal sentenced to more than 12 years in prison
- Catholic Charities celebrates its newest client choice pantry
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.
