Belcourt Man Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Federal Officer

BISMARCK – U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on July 26, 2013, Cameron J. Gooden, 18, Belcourt, N.D., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a charge of assaulting and resisting a federal officer.

On Dec. 24, 2012, a correctional officer at the Turtle Mountain Correctional Facility in Belcourt attempted to remove Gooden from the shower area to return him to his cell. When the officer attempted to enter the shower area, Gooden slammed a metal shower door on the officer pinning him between the door and the metal frame, causing the officer to sustain a rib fracture.

The charge of assaulting and resisting a federal officer carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by Bureau of Indian Affairs – Turtle Mountain Agency.

Sentencing for Gooden has been scheduled for Oct. 18, 2013, in U.S. District Court in Bismarck,, N.D., at 1:15 p.m.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandi Sasse Russell is prosecuting the case.