Jordan Gerald Lee Jackson Pleads Guilty in U.S. Federal Court

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana
October 30, 2012

The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on October 29, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, Jordan Gerald Lee Jackson, a 25-year-old resident of Heart Butte and an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe, pled guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Sentencing has been set for January 22, 2013. He is currently detained.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura B. Weiss, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On June 18, 2011, victim C.A. was picked up by his cousin, Jackson, in Great Falls. Jackson was driving a blue van. Two other individuals were also in the van and everyone was drinking alcohol. When asked about alcohol consumption, Jackson said, “I’m not sure how much I drank, but it was a lot.”

By the time they arrived in Heart Butte, it was dark. C.A. then departed from Heart Butte with Jackson. Jackson indicated he was “really drunk” and swerved off the road but laughed it off and kept going. The vehicle went off the road again, flipped over, and ultimately landed upside down with the victim still strapped in the passenger seat.

A passerby cut the victim out of the passenger side as the victim was bleeding and yelling that he could not feel his arm. The victim was transported via ambulance to the Blackfeet Emergency Room. The nurse noted the following about C.A.’s right arm: “very badly evulsion to point of almost amputation.” He was transferred via helicopter to Great Falls then to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. He underwent three surgical procedures, including a skin graft.

Approximately an hour after the rollover, Jackson was taken to the emergency room in Browning, where his blood alcohol content was found to be 0.20.

Jackson faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years’ supervised release.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Montana Highway Patrol, and the Blackfeet Law Enforcement.