Browning Bank Robber Sentenced To 17 Years in Federal Prison

GREAT FALLS—Ronald Joseph Fourhorns, 31, of Browning, Montana, was sentenced today—January 15, 2014—to 210 months in federal prison for robbing the Native American Bank in Browning in March of last year, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  Four Horns was also sentenced to three years of supervised release that will be served once he is out of prison, $4,000 in restitution, and a special assessment of $100 by U.S. District Judge Brian Morris during a federal court hearing in Great Falls.

Fourhorns was sentenced following his November 3, 2014, guilty plea to bank robbery.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Weldon told the Court that on March 21, 2014, Fourhorns entered the Native American Bank in Browning, Montana.  Fourhorns sat down and waited for a bank teller window to become available.  As the lines of the bank tellers opened, Fourhorns went to a window and passed the bank teller a note, which stated:  “I have a gun, give me all your money or I’ll start shooting.”  Witnesses would have testified, according to AUSA Weldon that Fourhorns had on heavy make-up in an apparent attempt to conceal the tattoos on his face.  Some of these tattoos consisted of the words “Crip,” which was on this forehead, “Vicious” on his upper lip and “Indian” on his lower lip.  The teller surrendered $4,000 in cash and Fourhorns left the bank.  Law enforcement used surrounding video surveillance and an identification of the get-away vehicle to determine that Fourhorns was the bank robber.  Weldon also told the Court that witnesses saw Fourhorns near the Native American Bank on the day of the robbery and with a tremendous amount of cash, in the same denominations as that taken from the bank teller, after the robbery.              

The statutory maximum for bank robbery is twenty years.  The District Court sentenced Fourhorns to 210 months, or 17 years, in federal prison. Because there is no parole in the federal system, Fourhorns will likely be incarcerated for almost all of the 17 year sentence.  Fourhorns will have the opportunity to shorten the term of custody by as much as 15 % for good behavior while in prison.          

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement.