This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 27-year-old prisoner who stabbed and cut off part of his cellmate's nose during a fight last year at the Utah State Prison was sentenced Monday to serve up to five more years in prison.
Bobby Fidel Archuleta pleaded guilty in 3rd District Court to attempted mayhem and assault by a prisoner, both third-degree felonies punishable by up to five years in prison. Judge Robin Reese sentenced Archuleta to serve the sentences for each crime simultaneously.
Archuleta stabbed his cellmate 11 times in the upper body, face and neck after they got into a fight in their cell on Feb. 26, 2012, according to charging documents.
After the two were separated, a piece of the victim's nose — about the size of a thumbnail — was found to be missing. Investigators later found it in a blanket on the bottom bunk of the bed inside the cell the two men shared.
Investigators said Archuleta used a sharp object or a shank to commit the crime.
The state parole board will determine how much of the maximum five-year sentence Archuleta will actually serve.
Archuleta was originally charged with first-degree felony counts of mayhem and assault by a prisoner and second-degree felony possession of an item prohibited in a correctional facility.
At the time of the stabbing, Archuleta was serving time for felony counts of aggravated assault, discharging a firearm from a vehicle and purchasing or possessing a dangerous weapon.
He has been in Utah State Prison since Feb. 25, 2009.
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