Sheyenne Man Sentenced for Damaging Law Enforcement Vehicle

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of North Dakota
January 29, 2013

FARGO—U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on January 28, 2013, Weldon Littleghost, 21, of Sheyenne, North Dakota, was sentenced before U.S. District Judge

Ralph R. Erickson on charges of damage to government property, possession of stolen firearms, and escape by prisoner.

Judge Erickson sentenced Littleghost to one year and nine months in prison. The sentence is to be followed by three years of supervised release. Littleghost was ordered to pay restitution, joint and several with co-defendant Lucas Little, in the amount of $42,358.19, and to pay a $225 special assessment to the Crime Victim’s Fund.

Littleghost pleaded guilty to the charges on September 26, 2012.

Co-defendant Lucas Little of Tokio, North Dakota, pleaded guilty to the same charges on September 25, 2012. Little was sentenced on December 18, 2012, to one year and 10 months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Little was ordered to pay restitution, joint and several with co-defendant Weldon Littleghost, in the amount of $42,358.19, and to pay a $225 special assessment to the Crime Victim’s Fund.

On August 24, 2011, Little and Littleghost were arrested on tribal charges on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation an placed in the back seat of a Bureau of Indian Affairs police vehicle. While the arresting officer was tending to the medical needs of another person arrested with Little and Littleghost, Little managed to gain access to the front seat of the police vehicle and drove away with Littleghost in the vehicle.

The two men drove a distance and were able to remove their handcuffs. Then, Little and Littleghost severely damaged the vehicle by destroying the digital video and radio systems and shooting the back window and the exterior of the vehicle. Finally, the vehicle was eventually recovered from Horseshoe Lake when the pair missed a curve in the road and drove into the lake. During the search for the escaped prisoners, a U.S. Border Patrol helicopter with thermal imaging capabilities was used to locate Little along the shore. Littleghost was apprehended at the home of a relative.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, with assistance from the United States Border Patrol.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Janice M. Morley prosecuted the case.