Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Billings, on March 18, 2009, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, RON ONEIDA WHITEMAN, a 20-year-old resident of Lame Deer, appeared for sentencing. WHITEMAN was sentenced to a term of:

• Prison: 293 months

• Special Assessment: $100

• Supervised Release: 15 years

WHITEMAN was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to aggravated sexual abuse.

In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On the evening of November 17, 2007, WHITEMAN, two other adult males and one juvenile male were driving around Lame Deer drinking alcohol. The group saw the victim, walking down the street and decided to pick her up. She was staggering as she walked and she was drunk. The victim got into the car with the men. They purchased more alcohol and continued to drive around Lame Deer. WHITEMAN and another individual started making sexual advances towards the victim, which she refused. They then drove to a remote area in the hills, behind the Westside housing area. At this location, WHITEMAN had sexual intercourse with the victim in the backseat. By WHITEMAN'S own account, the victim was too intoxicated to provide consent to engage in the sexual act.

After the sexual act, the victim was taken out of the car by the men. She fell to the ground because she was too drunk to stand. The men placed her on the hood of the car and WHITEMAN had sexual intercourse with her again. The juvenile male and the other men had sexual contact with her as well. She was also assaulted by one or more of the men. The men then put her in the trunk of the car naked. They drove around with her in the trunk until some time later when she was rescued from the trunk of the car.

The victim was taken to the hospital for treatment and a sexual assault examination was performed. Samples were also obtained from WHITEMAN. DNA testing confirmed that WHITEMAN engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim.

The victim has very little memory of what happened to her, but she would have testified that she did not give WHITEMAN consent to have sexual intercourse with her.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that WHITEMAN will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, WHITEMAN does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper Suek prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

 

 

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