Tony Ray Many Guns Sentenced in U.S. District Court

The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on October 21, 2013, before Chief U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen, Tony Ray Many Guns, a 36-year-old resident of Browning and an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe, was sentenced to a term of:

• Prison: 30 months
• Special assessment: $100
• Supervised release: three years

Many Guns was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

In an offer of proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan G. Weldon, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On February 28, 2013, Many Guns’ wife was sleeping at a friend’s home in Browning, which is within the exterior boundaries of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. At approximately 2:00 a.m., Many Guns showed up at the residence after drinking “downtown.” He knocked on the bedroom window so that his wife would let him inside, but she did not open the window. Many Guns instead entered the house through the front door and was angry that his wife failed to aid in his entrance. While they were both in bed, Many Guns began to hit his wife by striking her in the mouth and in the cheek with a closed fist. The victim started to return blows but soon rolled onto her stomach and buried her face in the mattress in an effort to protect herself.

Many Guns continued to hit the victim and eventually stuck her index finger in his mouth and bit down “as hard as he could.” In an effort to get Many Guns to release her finger, the victim used her left hand to dig into Many Guns’ eye. Many Guns let go and then used both of his hands to strangle the victim. The victim recalled making gasping and choking noises and began to pray out loud. Many Guns said, “You better pray.”

The physical altercation stopped for a short time, and Many Guns told the victim that he wanted something to eat. He made the victim go with him. Once in the kitchen, the victim said something that angered him. Many Guns responded by slamming her into the wall near the refrigerator. He then grabbed the victim around the neck and strangled her until she lost consciousness. The victim did not know how long she was unconscious, but when she regained consciousness, Many Guns was holding her up by her arms in the same spot. She reached out and pushed at Many Guns and slapped him in the face. Many Guns returned fire, using a closed fist to strike her in the mouth, which caused bleeding. Many Guns gave the victim a towel and said, “Don’t bleed on my floor.”

The next day, the victim soaked her finger in an attempt to prevent infection. The victim eventually told him, “It felt like you were [going] [to] bite my finger off.” Many Guns responded, “I was trying to.” He then told her that she should not try to fight back.

The victim went to the hospital because her finger became infected and she was unable to move it. The injury to the victim’s finger was extremely painful. She received Lortab, which is a narcotic drug, for the pain and was required to go through IV therapy.

On March 4, 2013, Many Guns was interviewed about the victim’s finger. Many Guns initially said that he did not remember anything happening to the victim’s finger. After further questioning, Many Guns eventually recalled that the victim was upset and yelled that she hated him. While trying to get the victim to calm down, Many Guns stated that the victim reached forward and pressed a finger into his eyes. Many Guns claimed that was when he bit her finger. Many Guns acknowledged that he bit the victim’s finger for one minute and remembered that she was screaming, crying, and bleeding profusely.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the “truth in sentencing” guidelines mandate that he will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, he does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for “good behavior.” However, this reduction will not exceed 15 percent of the overall sentence.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.