Fort Hall Man Pleads Guilty to Assault with a Dangerous Weapon

U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Idaho
24 August 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

POCATELLO – Murray James Plentywounds, 30, of Fort Hall, Idaho, pleaded guilty today to assault with a dangerous weapon, Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael Gonzalez, announced. Plentywounds was indicted in February 2017 by a federal grand jury in Pocatello.

According to the plea agreement, on November 29, 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was advised that a stabbing had occurred on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. The female victim was in the Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello. An FBI agent met her there. The agent found that the victim was being treated for a stab wound to her left shoulder. The victim stated that she had been with friends on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation when she got into a vehicle with another female driving and Plentywounds in the back seat. As they were driving around, Plentywounds became angry at the victim and punched her in the left shoulder. At that time, the victim saw that Plentywounds was holding a knife and she realized that her clothing was cut, she was bleeding and she had been stabbed. The victim was treated at the hospital and has since recovered from her injuries.

The charge of assault with a dangerous weapon is punishable by up to ten years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release.

Sentencing will be November 20, 2017, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Pocatello.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Fort Hall Tribal Police.

Contact:
BARBARA LAYMAN
Public Information Officer
(208) 334-1211
barbara.layman@usdoj.gov