Little Eagle Man Sentenced for Assault

ABERDEEN - United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann has sentenced a Little Eagle, South Dakota, man convicted of Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury. The sentencing took place on June 5, 2023.

Raul Tomas Mata, age 22, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, restitution in the amount of $5,150.31, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

Mata was indicted for Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury by a federal grand jury in July of 2022. He pleaded guilty on March 14, 2023.

On April 29, 2022, in Little Eagle, within the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation, Mata fired a rifle from a vehicle towards several houses. One of the bullets Mata fired struck a three-year-old child in the abdomen, causing her serious and life-threatening bodily injury.  

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. 

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services, Standing Rock Agency, FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Corson County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron J. Cook prosecuted the case.

Mata was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.