Skip to main content
Press Release

Pine Ridge Man Sentenced in Shooting Death of Man

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Dakota

United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Pine Ridge man convicted of Voluntary Manslaughter and Discharge of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime of Violence was sentenced by Chief Judge Jeffrey L. Viken, U.S. District Court.

Thomas Joseph Brewer, age 26, was sentenced on October 3, 2017, to 8 years and 1 month of imprisonment on the manslaughter conviction, and 10 years on the firearm conviction, to run consecutively, followed by 5 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund and $7,680.13 in restitution. 

Brewer was charged on December 20, 2016. The conviction stems from Brewer killing a man by shooting him in the abdomen with a 9mm handgun, after the man confronted him about driving recklessly in front of his house in Pine Ridge in November 2016.  

This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson prosecuted the case.

Brewer was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Updated October 5, 2017

Topics
Indian Country Law and Justice
Violent Crime