UPDATE: The defendant in this case, Jerard David Threefingers, ultimately withdrew his guilty plea and the case went to a jury trial, where he was acquitted on Dec. 14, 2021 of the charge alleged in the indictment described in the press release below.
BILLINGS - A Lame Deer man accused in the death of a woman who was struck and killed by his car on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation pleaded guilty to charges today, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.
Jerard David Threefingers, 31, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, as charged in an indictment. Threefingers faces a statutory maximum of eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. A plea agreement filed in the case calls for a term of five years of probation to be imposed if the federal district court judge accepts the agreement at sentencing. The judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided. Judge Watters ordered Threefingers released and set sentencing for Sept. 17.
In court documents filed in the case, the government alleged that on March 6, 2020, Threefingers was at a Muddy Cluster house, on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, where he was hanging out and drinking with the victim, identified as Jane Doe, and others. Threefingers and Doe argued, and he drove away in a car. Threefingers returned, Doe came outside and they continued to argue at the car. Doe attempted to punch at Threefingers through the window and then grabbed the handle of the car door. Threefingers started to drive away.
The government further alleged that Doe continued to hang onto the handle and that her hand became lodged in it. Doe fell and got caught under the car. Threefingers picked up Doe and drove her to a relative’s house. An ambulance was called, and Doe was pronounced dead. An autopsy determined the cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan T. Dake is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
XXX
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
