A man has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for his role as an accessory after the fact in a murder investigation on the Crow Indian Reservation, according to U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme. William Robert Jay Howe, Jr., 41, received a sentence of 70 months in prison and three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay more than $11,771 in restitution.
Howe pleaded guilty in August 2025 to one count of accessory after the fact. The case was heard by U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters.
According to court documents, on January 18, 2023, a gunshot victim was taken to the emergency room in Crow Agency, Montana. The person who drove the victim initially misled law enforcement about where the shooting occurred. Authorities later identified the actual location and obtained footage from security cameras near the scene.
The footage showed Howe and another individual cleaning up the area where the victim had been found by moving snow with various tools and picking up items from the scene. Howe was also seen taking an item from the area and walking away with it.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Zeno Baucus prosecuted this case. The investigation was conducted by both the FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs.
