Porcupine Man Sentenced for Assault

BISMARCK—U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on May 4, 2012, Seth L. Harrison, 31, of Porcupine, North Dakota, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Daniel L. Hovland on charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and witness tampering. Harrison pleaded guilty to the charges on February 9, 2012.

Judge Hovland sentenced Harrison to eight years in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Harrison was ordered to pay $1,100 in restitution and to pay a $200 special assessment to the Crime Victim’s Fund.

On July 31, 2011, Harrison physically assaulted a woman in Porcupine by punching her with his fist and by kicking her. The assault resulted in the victim suffering injuries to include a broken arm. Following Harrison being ordered detained pending trial on the assault charges, Harrison placed several phone calls to witnesses, which were recorded. In the phone conversations, Harrison asked the witnesses to draft new statements to law enforcement officials regarding the assault, which were to indicate either that the witness did not see the assault or that the victim exaggerated the assault. In one of the calls, Harrison asks an unknown female to further assault the victim. Harrison indicated in the phone calls that he intended to use the new statements to influence the court to revisit Harrison’s detention status.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs-Standing Rock Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Delorme prosecuted the case.