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Press Release

Crow Agency man sentenced for assault, witness tampering

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Montana

BILLINGS—A Crow Agency man convicted of beating his partner on the Crow Reservation and of trying to get her to not testify about the assaults was sentenced on March 13 to a total of 78 months in prison, with credit for 106 days for time spent in tribal custody, and three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Lansing Zachary Rock Above, 34, pleaded guilty in November to assault resulting in substantial bodily injury to a spouse or intimate partner and to tampering with a witness.

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

“Offenders who assault women will be prosecuted,” U.S. Attorney Alme said. “Those who also try to intimidate or threaten victims will be prosecuted again to the full extent of the law. Victims need to know they can come forward and we will use the criminal justice system to protect them,” Alme said.

Prosecutors said Rock Above beat and strangled his intimate partner on Feb. 23 and 24, 2018 in Crow Agency on the Crow Reservation. The victim was treated for bruises and injuries to her head, neck and teeth. In March 2018, Rock Above called the victim five times on a recorded phone line from the Big Horn County Detention Facility, in Basin, Wyo., and attempted to convince the victim to not testify against him and to say nothing happened. In one of the calls, Rock Above said his case would be dismissed and asked the victim, “You got my back, right?”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paulette Stewart prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and FBI.

 

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Contact

Clair Johnson Howard
Public Information Officer
406-247-4623

Updated March 14, 2019

Topic
Indian Country Law and Justice