Eagle Butte Man Pleads Guilty to Assault

United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that Ronald Richard Parker, Jr., age 40, of Eagle Butte, South Dakota, appeared before United States District Judge Roberto A. Lange on May 2, 2011, and pled guilty to an information that charged him with Assault with a Dangerous Weapon and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 10 years in custody, a $250,000 fine, or both; three years of supervised release; and a $100 special assessment.

The charges arose from an incident on March 19, 2011, near the South Main Apartment Complex in Eagle Butte. The factual basis statement, filed with the plea agreement, provides that Parker got into a verbal altercation with a man in the South Main parking lot and shot the man in the stomach with a .22 caliber revolver. The victim survived, but underwent emergency surgery at Rapid City Regional Hospital in Rapid City, South Dakota, to repair the gunshot wound. At the time of the assault, Parker was a convicted felon and was not authorized to possess a firearm.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mikal Hanson.

A presentence investigation was ordered, and a sentencing date was set for July 21, 2011. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.