Man sentenced in robbery tied to disappearance of Navajo elder Ella Mae Begay

A federal judge sentenced Preston Henry Tolth to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to robbing Ella Mae Begay, who disappeared in 2021

May 13, 2026

The only person charged in the 2021 disappearance of Navajo elder Ella Mae Begay was sentenced Friday to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to robbery, according to The Associated Press.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes accepted a plea agreement in Phoenix in which Preston Henry Tolth pleaded guilty to robbing Begay. Under the agreement, Tolth received credit for three years already served and prosecutors dropped an assault charge and agreed not to prosecute him in the future if developments arise in Begay’s disappearance case. Begay, a Navajo grandmother and weaver from Sweetwater, Arizona, disappeared from her home in June 2021.

According to AP reporting, family members urged the judge to reject the agreement and asked Tolth to provide information about Begay’s whereabouts. Navajo Nation public safety director Michael Henderson said tribal law enforcement still considers finding Begay a priority. Federal prosecutors said the plea agreement was the government’s best option after courts suppressed Tolth’s confession during the investigation.

1.Savannah Peters and Jacques Billeaud. The Associated Press, May 08, 2026.

1.Savannah Peters and Jacques Billeaud. The Associated Press, May 08, 2026.

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