St. Michael Man Pleads Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of North Dakota
March 6, 2013

FARGO—U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on March 6, 2013, Jamie Lee Belgarde of St. Michael, North Dakota, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson to a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

On June 23, 2012, Belgarde, 38, while intoxicated and driving at a high rate of speed, failed to negotiate a curve in the road, causing the vehicle to leave the road. The vehicle vaulted, rolled, and eventually came to rest upside down in a field.

Belgarde’s brother, Donald Belgarde, Jr., who was a passenger in the vehicle, was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident happened on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation.

The charge of involuntary manslaughter carries a statutory maximum penalty of eight years’ imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Sentencing for Belgarde has been scheduled for May 29, 2013, in U.S. District Court in Fargo, North Dakota, at 11:45.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Janice M. Morley is prosecuting the case.