Wolf Point woman who shot man over meth debt on Fort Peck Reservation sentenced to 121 months in prison

GREAT FALLS—Wolf Point resident Desire Azkadelia Lambert, who admitted shooting a man in the chest after he left a meth deal without paying for the drug, was sentenced today to 121 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Lambert, 30, also known as Cassandra Lee Follette, pleaded guilty in May to assault with a dangerous weapon and to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

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

In court documents filed in the case, the prosecution said that on Sept. 13, 2018, the victim received methamphetamine from Lambert on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and left without paying Lambert. Lambert then borrowed her mother’s vehicle and obtained her firearm and drove to confront the victim. Lambert found the victim outside of a convenience store gas station in Wolf Point and pulled up next to the victim.

Lambert argued with victim, pulled out her gun, and shot the victim in the chest from her car. She fled the scene, disposed of the firearm, and went back to her mother’s house. Local law enforcement arrested Lambert at the residence on tribal charges. Officers searched the area but were unable to locate the gun.

The victim was flown to a Billings hospital where he underwent surgery for a gunshot wound to his chest.

Approximately one month later, while in tribal custody, Lambert contacted the FBI and informed investigators that she had lied about the location of the gun when initially interviewed. Lambert was temporarily released from jail to the custody of the investigators so that she could take the agent to the location where she had hidden the firearm after the shooting. The firearm, a .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol, was under a disabled truck in a neighborhood on the reservation. Officers also found three rounds of ammunition and a pistol magazine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassady Adams prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Fort Peck Tribes Department of Law and Justice, Wolf Point Police Department, Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office and the Montana Highway Patrol.

The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is 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.

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