Browning man sentenced to prison for death on Blackfeet Indian Reservation

GREAT FALLS – A Browning man who caused a death on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation was sentenced today to 18 months in prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Douglas Dean McDonald, 29, pleaded guilty in February 2025 to one count of involuntary manslaughter.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

The government alleged in court documents that on the afternoon of June 9, 2024, Douglas Dean McDonald was driving a sedan with his family at 118mph before he changed lanes and struck and killed John Doe, who was operating a motorcycle. Doe’s wife was a passenger on the motorcycle but was not seriously injured.

Doe and his wife were riding their motorcycle about five miles outside of Browning heading east toward Cut Bank to see the bison herd. There were none, so they decided to turn around. As Doe was executing the U-turn, McDonald, who was traveling at a high rate of speed, went into the westbound lane and struck the motorcycle. The accident severed Doe’s leg, and he died at the scene.

A witness came upon the crash shortly after it occurred. The witness reported that McDonald and his wife flagged the witness down and wanted a ride to Browning. She reported that there were other individuals at the scene telling McDonald he needed to stay at the scene. When law enforcement arrived, McDonald admitted to consuming twisted teas the night before and smoking a bowl of marijuana at noon that day. He gave a PBT at the scene that was positive for alcohol with a BAC of .02.

McDonald consented to a blood draw. Law enforcement drove him to the hospital for the blood draw. During this interaction, the officer could detect the smell of alcoholic beverages emitting from his person. At the hospital, McDonald attempted to run away from law enforcement, fleeing through the emergency doors and had to be chased down in the parking lot.

Montana Highway Patrol conducted the crash investigation. They mapped the scene and analyzed the electronic data from McDonald’s vehicle. Five seconds before the deployment event (collision) McDonald was going 118mph. The data showed that the vehicle slowed to 114mph two seconds before the deployment event, and then slowed to 99mph one second before. The speedometer of the vehicle was frozen at 98mph after the crash. MHP determined that if McDonald had been going the posted speed limit of 70mph, Doe would have been able to successfully execute the U-turn.

The toxicology report indicated that in addition to alcohol and marijuana, McDonald had fentanyl, methamphetamine, norfentanyl, amphetamine, and gabapentin in his system.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kalah Paisley prosecuted the case. The investigation was conducted by the FBI, Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services, Glacier County Sheriff’s Office, and Montana Highway Patrol.

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