PHOENIX (AP) - A Whiteriver man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for abusing a baby.
Federal prosecutors say 33-year-old Michael Joe also was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix to three years of supervised release.
Joe had previously pleaded guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
Prosecutors say Joe acted as the primary caretaker for a nine-month-old, developmentally disabled baby.
They say he admitted to injuring the infant by squeezing the baby’s torso until he heard the child groan and then stop breathing.
The baby suffered broken ribs as a result.
A judge increased Joe’s sentence due to other documented injuries to the baby in a case of severe child abuse.
Authorities say the incident occurred on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in east-central Arizona.
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