- Frank Tsinnijinnie, serving a manslaughter sentence, is seeking parole.
- The 26-year-old admits to past mistakes that lead to the 2017 fatal shooting of a 14-year-old boy.
- Tsinnijinnie plans to aid addiction recovery in the Navajo Nation upon release.
SALT LAKE CITY — Frank Tsinnijinnie says he isn’t going to wait until he is released from prison to change the way he lives.
“Being on parole is not just walking past that gate,” he told the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole on Tuesday. “It all starts in the cell. … You don’t have to wait to carry yourself in that way.”
On Aug. 2, 2017, about 3 a.m., Tsinnijinnie had gone with friends to help conduct a drug deal. His friends asked him to provide protection because he had a gun, even though Tsinnijinnie admits he wasn’t legally permitted to have one, he told the board…