Red Lake Man Pleads Guilty to Running Another Vehicle Off the Road

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota
July 26, 2013

MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court in Duluth, a 30-year-old Red Lake man pleaded guilty to running a vehicle off the road on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. Tony Lee Lussier specifically pleaded guilty to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. Lussier, who was charged May 21, 2013, in a superseding indictment, entered his plea before United States District Court Judge Richard H. Kyle.

In his plea agreement, Lussier admitted that on May 12, 2013, while he was driving a motor vehicle, he chased another vehicle. That vehicle contained four people. Lussier admittedly crashed into the other vehicle, causing it to roll into the ditch. Then, Lussier attempted to assault the other vehicle’s occupants before returning to his vehicle and driving away.

For his crime, Lussier faces a potential maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Judge Kyle will determine his sentence at a future hearing, yet to be scheduled. This case is the result of an investigation by the Red Lake Tribal Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura M. Provinzino and Manda M. Sertich.

Because the Red Lake Indian Reservation is a federal-jurisdiction reservation, some of the crimes that occur there are investigated by the FBI in conjunction with the Red Lake Tribal Police Department. Those cases are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.