New Town Man Pleads Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of North Dakota
February 20, 2013

BISMARCK—U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on February 20, 2013, Merrill J. Mann, II, 37, New Town, North Dakota, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

On April 20, 2012, Mann was the driver of a 2004 Chevrolet pickup traveling northbound on BIA Route 2 west of New Town. At the time, Mann was under the influence of intoxicating liquor. Mann stopped his vehicle at a stop sign at the intersection with North Dakota Highway 23 for a prolonged period of time. Mann pulled his vehicle into the intersection when a 2003 Dodge Caravan was headed westbound on Highway 23 carrying several passengers. Mann’s vehicle and the van collided. An 84-year-old passenger in the van was killed as a result of injuries sustained in the collision.

The charge of involuntary manslaughter carries a statutory maximum penalty of eight years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs-Fort Berthold Agency, the Three Affiliated Tribes Police Department, and the North Dakota Highway Patrol.

Sentencing for Mann has been scheduled for May 31, 2013, in U.S. District Court in Bismarck, North Dakota, at 10:00 a.m.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Volk is prosecuting the case.