A Wolf Point man has pleaded guilty to charges of assault with a dangerous weapon on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Roger Sylvan Bissonette, III, aged 23, admitted to the charges and now faces a potential sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Brian M. Morris is overseeing the case and will determine Bissonette's sentence after reviewing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 30, 2025. Until then, Bissonette has been released under certain conditions.
The incident occurred on January 27, 2024, when Bissonette and several friends were engaged in a game of "slap-boxing" in Wolf Point, Montana. The situation escalated when John Doe demanded his phone back from the group. A confrontation followed between Doe and Bissonette along with his co-defendants in the driveway.
Witnesses reported seeing Bissonette and others assaulting Doe. One witness described an individual hitting Doe with a bat while another used a hammer. Another witness observed Bissonette approaching Doe as he backed away before being attacked by three individuals.
Bissonette told law enforcement that Doe was threatening others with a knife before he retrieved a hammer from inside the house for protection. He claimed that after one co-defendant struck Doe with a bar causing him to fall, another co-defendant stabbed him in the chest prompting Bissonette to strike Doe with the hammer repeatedly until he was down.
John Doe succumbed to his injuries at the scene before authorities arrived. An autopsy confirmed that he died from blunt and sharp force trauma to his head and chest.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office following an investigation conducted by multiple agencies including the FBI, Fort Peck Tribes Department of Law & Justice, Wolf Point Police Department, and State of Montana Division of Criminal Investigation.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), an initiative aimed at reducing violent crime through collaboration among law enforcement agencies and community organizations. For more information about PSN visit Justice.gov/PSN.
