Waylon Ronald Burns Sentenced In U.S. District Court

The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on May 23, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, WAYLON RONALD BURNS, a 35-year-old resident of Lame Deer and an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 188 months

Special Assessment: $100

Supervised Release: 20 years

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

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper Suek, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On August 4, 2012, the victim and some friends were drinking and driving around Lame Deer. At some point, BURNS joined them. BURNS started acting weird and aggressive and everyone but the victim got out of the car. The victim and BURNS eventually drove to the rodeo grounds. BURNS physically assaulted the victim and then raped her.

When interviewed, BURNS admitted that he had sex with the victim, but claimed it was consensual.

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

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.