Assault on Bureau of Indian Affairs officer sends Pryor man to prison for five years

BILLINGS — A Pryor man who admitted to his role in assaulting a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer as he was responding to a report of a stolen vehicle in Lodge Grass, on the Crow Indian Reservation, was sentenced to a mandatory minimum five years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Darnell Lee Not Afraid, 38, pleaded guilty in September 2022 to possession of a firearm in furtherance of assault on a federal officer, a crime of violence.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

The government alleged in court documents that on March 14, 2021, BIA officers, while in the course of their official duties, were pursuing Not Afraid, who was driving a stolen truck at high speeds through residential neighborhoods in Lodge Grass. Not Afraid eventually stopped, got out of the truck and ran away. The officer pursued on foot into a residential yard and drew his Taser. As the officer neared Not Afraid, Not Afraid turned toward the officer, pulled up his shirt and grabbed a silver revolver from his waistband. The officer dropped his Taser, drew his service pistol and fired multiple times at Not Afraid, striking him at least once in the arm. An angry crowd of people, who had been watching the chase, accosted the officer, yelling and cursing at him. The crowd was angry at the officer for shooting Not Afraid and prevented the officer from attending to him. 

Co-defendant Earl Landon Old Chief, Jr., is pending sentencing for conviction in the case. A third co-defendant, Darwyna Caylynn Catherine Bullshows, was sentenced to time served for conviction in the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper Suek prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI.