Mandaree Man Pleads Guilty to Burglary

MINOT, ND—United States Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on January 10, 2011, Toby P. Young Bear, 29, of Mandaree, North Dakota, pled guilty before United States District Court Judge Daniel L. Hovland to a charge of burglary.

On April 25, 2010, the victim returned home to find Young Bear passed out in Young Bear’s vehicle about 100 yards from the victim’s residence in Mandaree. Inside the vehicle were several items belonging to the victim, including a computer, a flat-screen television, a projector, and a chair. Upon entering the home, the victim discovered a fire had started in the basement. The fire damaged areas of the basement, including a water pipe that eventually burst and put out the fire but flooded the basement with water. Young Bear admitted he had broken into the home and taken the items found in the car but did not know how the fire had started.

The charge of burglary carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs - Fort Berthold Agency, Three Affiliated Tribes Police Department, and North Dakota State Fire Marshal. Sentencing for Young Bear has been scheduled for March 28, 2011, in United States District Court in Minot, North Dakota, at 3:00 p.m.

Assistant United States Attorney Rick Volk is prosecuting the case.