Red Lake Man Pleads Guilty to Assault

A 34-year-old Red Lake man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

Paul Robert Jones entered his plea May 18 in Minneapolis before United States District Court Judge Joan Ericksen.

According to his plea agreement, Jones admitted that on Nov. 26, 2008, he slashed and stabbed a victim with a serrated kitchen knife. Jones was indicted on Jan. 13.

According to a FBI affidavit, at approximately 1:10 a.m. on Nov. 26, the Red Lake Police Department responded to an assault report at a residence. The victim told officers that she was lying down with her young child while another child was playing video games in the bedroom when she saw Jones’s face in the window. Jones entered the bedroom and started stabbing her until the victim was able to crawl to another room for help.

The victim sustained several severe lacerations to her left arm and forearm, mouth, chest area and right fingers.

Jones faces a potential maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Judge Ericksen will determine Jones’s sentence at a future date. This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI and the Red Lake Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Clifford B. Wardlaw.