Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann has sentenced Evan John Bobtail Bear, a resident of Little Eagle, South Dakota, to five years in federal prison for involuntary manslaughter. The sentencing occurred on July 15, 2025.
Bobtail Bear, aged 35, will also serve three years of supervised release and pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2024 and pleaded guilty on February 12, 2025.
The incident took place on May 14, 2024, during an argument with his brother at a gathering outside a home in Little Eagle within the Standing Rock Reservation. Bobtail Bear punched his brother in the head, causing him to fall unconscious and hit his head on a concrete driveway. Despite Bobtail Bear's pleas for him to wake up, his brother succumbed to his injuries on June 8, 2024, at a hospital in Bismarck, North Dakota.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case under the Major Crimes Act which requires certain violent crimes occurring in Indian country to be tried in federal court rather than state court.
The FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs – Office of Justice Services conducted the investigation with Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Thunem prosecuting the case. Following sentencing, Bobtail Bear was remanded into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service.
