Wolf Point man sentenced in drunken driving fatal crash

GREAT FALLS— Wolf Point resident Andrew Preston Martell, who admitted he had been driving drunk when he crashed his vehicle and killed a passenger on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation last October, was sentenced on June 20 to 40 months in prison and to three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Martell, 32, pleaded guilty in March to involuntary manslaughter.

U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

Prosecutors said the crash occurred at about 10 p.m. on Oct. 1, 2018 on a county road known as Swimming Pool Road, near Wolf Point. Martell had been drinking alcohol heavily throughout the evening and was driving around the reservation with two female passengers. Martell drove off the straight road and crashed in a ditch. The vehicle rotated and rolled end over end coming to rest on the driver’s side. All three occupants were trapped in the vehicle and had to be extricated by emergency responders. One of the passengers was impaled by a crutch in the vehicle and died at the scene. Martell’s blood alcohol concentration was about 0.182 percent.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassady Adams prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI, Montana Highway Patrol, Wolf Point Police Department and Fort Peck Tribes Law Enforcement.

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