Ponemah Man Sentenced for Involuntary Manslaughter

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota
February 9, 2011

A 62-year-old man from Ponemah, Minnesota, one of the four communities that make up the Red Lake Indian Reservation, was sentenced earlier today in federal court in Fergus Falls for causing the death of a Red Lake man in 2009. United States District Court Chief Judge Michael J. Davis sentenced Bruce Wilson Dow, Sr., to 24 months in prison on one count of involuntary manslaughter. Dow was indicted on March 18, 2010, and pleaded guilty on July 22, 2010.

In his plea agreement, Dow admitted that on October 10, 2009, he caused the death of another man by driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. Dow admitted that without malice, he killed a passenger in his vehicle when the vehicle rolled over, and the passenger was ejected. The man later died at the hospital.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Red Lake Tribal Police Department, with assistance from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erika R. Mozangue.