Blackduck Man Indicted for Involuntary Manslaughter

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota
March 25, 2013

MINNEAPOLIS—Last week in federal court, a 27-year-old Blackduck man was indicted in connection with the October 23, 2012 death of a young woman in Redby, Minnesota. On March 19, 2013, Dustin Michael Johnson was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.

The indictment alleges that on October 23, Johnson killed the woman without malice. It alleges that Johnson was operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol on State Highway 15 and crashed. The victim, who was a passenger in the vehicle, was killed.

If convicted, Johnson faces a potential maximum penalty of eight years in prison on each count. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge. This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Red Lake Tribal Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David P. Steinkamp.

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.

An indictment is a determination by a grand jury that there is probable cause to believe that offenses have been committed by a defendant. A defendant, of course, is presumed innocent until he or she pleads guilty or is proven guilty at trial.