Alison J. Ramsdell U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota
A Mobridge, South Dakota man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison after being convicted of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann on August 18, 2025.
Kendall Lee White Tail, age 34, will also serve three years of supervised release and must pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
White Tail was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2024 and pleaded guilty on May 19, 2025.
According to court documents, on June 25, 2023, White Tail confronted a couple walking in McLaughlin, South Dakota, located within the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. He threatened the woman by placing a pistol to her head and racking it while saying “I’ll get you.” Later that night, he approached the man as he sat with a friend outside. Holding both a pistol and a knife, White Tail slashed the man's face and leg with the knife before pistol whipping him. The victim suffered permanent loss of sight in his left eye along with fractured orbital and nasal bones.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case under the Major Crimes Act. This federal law requires certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian country be prosecuted at the federal level rather than state court.
“This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian country be prosecuted in federal court as opposed to State court,” according to United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs – Office of Justice Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Thunem handled prosecution for the government.
White Tail was remanded immediately into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service.
