This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A member of the Navajo Nation pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a fellow tribal member in 2011.
Philbert Rentz, 29, admitted in a federal court plea agreement that he acted "recklessly with extreme disregard for human life" in the murder of Tedrick Francis, 33.
The plea agreement contains a proposed sentence of six to eight years in prison. Rentz had been facing 10 charges, including first degree murder, assault and unlawful possession of a firearm.
He earlier had pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The crimes stem from a July 23, 2011, episode where Rentz was a passenger in a pickup truck driven by Llewellyn Dee Benally that stopped in a Utah section of the Navajo Nation. An argument ensued when two men approached the truck and Benally then pointed a rifle at them.
Rentz then fired a shot that went through one man and killed Francis.
Benally was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty in May 2012 to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The pair were prosecuted in federal court because the crimes took place on an Indian reservation.