Ashley Dawn Cota, 23, of Owyhee, Nevada, was sentenced today to serve up to 180 days of confinement at a community corrections center for assault by striking, beating or wounding, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Cota was convicted by a federal jury on April 15, after a two day trial. U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge also ordered Cota to serve four years of probation and complete 80 hours of community service.

According to court documents, on July 12, 2010, Cota was partying with friends at the home of acquaintances on Thomas Loop Road on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, near the Idaho-Nevada border. Shortly before 11:00 p.m., an altercation occurred and Cota cut 18-yearold Matthew Williams with a knife. Police who responded to the incident testified that Cota was intoxicated. Court documents show that Cota had six prior arrests for alcohol related offenses on the Duck Valley reservation.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.