A Pojoaque man will spend 14 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexual abusive contact for molesting a 6-year-old girl in Pojoaque.
Alexander Duran, 31, also known as Alexander John Duran, pleaded guilty to the charge on Nov. 19, which set his sentence at 14 years. Federal District Judge James Browning sentenced Duran on April 10 to 14 years, which he accepted under the terms of the binding plea agreement.
Duran, a Pojoaque tribal member, was held without bail for more than a year since his arrest in Kentucky on Jan. 16 and he was not appointed an attorney until Jan. 27, when he waived his extradition to New Mexico. He was ordered by Federal Magistrate Judge Jennifer Rozzoni, to be held without bail on Feb. 21. She did not write why, specifically, Duran should be held indefinitely without bail, or what evidence of his dangerousness was presented.
A federal grand jury indicted Duran on Dec. 3, 2024, on a charge of aggravated sexual abuse.
According to the plea deal, Duran molested a 6-year-old girl between Dec. 21, 2021 and Feb. 23, 2022.
“After committing this offense, I told Jane Doe to never tell anyone and that it was our secret,” Duran wrote in the plea deal.
Following his release after 14 years, he will be on supervised probation for five years and will be required to register as a sex offender.
Duran has no criminal history in the New Mexico state court system or in the federal New Mexico courts.