Fort Hall Women Pleads Guilty To Assault On Federal Officer

POCATELLO - Caitlin Eagle, 24, of Fort Hall, Idaho, pleaded guilty yesterday in United States District Court to assaulting a federal officer, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.

On February 18, 2014, Fort Hall police were dispatched to an area in Fort Hall after a report of shots fired. The caller said the persons involved were dressed in black and were running from the area. The responding officer arrived in the area and saw a person in a black coat. The officer tried to talk with the person, but she continued walking away from the officer. The person, later identified as Eagle, gave the officer a false name and was uncooperative. The officer smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on her person, a violation of Fort Hall tribal law, and the officer attempted to arrest her. As the officer tried to handcuff her, she became combative and struck the officer in the face several times. The officer was able to handcuff Eagle and with the help of another officer was able to get Eagle into the police car. The injured officer was treated at the hospital for abrasions on his cheek and nose.

An assault on a Fort Hall police officer is punished as an assault on a federal officer under federal law. The charge of assault on a federal officer is punishable by up to eight years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

Eagle is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11, 2015, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Pocatello.