(DURANGO, Colo.) — A man has been sentenced in an attempted robbery that led to the victim, an elderly Navajo man, being shot and injured on the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, on Aug. 24, 2023, 27-year-old Lovell Cassius Benallie shot an elderly Navajo man at the Ute Mountain Ute Travel Center after demanding the victim’s money. Benallie had traveled with a friend from New Mexico to the Ute Mountain Ute Casino, and after gambling, approached the victim as he was about to use the laundry facility.

The Attorney’s Office said Benallie approached the victim and demanded all his money while pointing a 9mm handgun at him. When the victim replied “what money,” Benallie aimed the gun at the victim’s leg and shot him before running from the scene. The victim was airlifted to a hospital in Grand Junction, and the Attorney’s Office said he suffered “serious and enduring injuries.”

Benallie had had several prior felony convictions, including a conviction for aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon in Farmington, New Mexico.

“This defendant coldly and callously shot a total stranger during an attempted robbery. Any such act of violence on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation gets the full attention of FBI Denver,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek.

On Friday, Dec. 20, the Attorney’s Office announced that Benallie had been sentenced to a total of 166 months (almost 14 years) in prison for assault with a dangerous weapon and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence on the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation. The prison sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release.