Rosebud Man Sentenced to 177 Months for Assaulting a Federal Officer and Using a Firearm During a Crime of Violence

United States Attorney Randolph J. Seiler announced that a Rosebud, South Dakota, man convicted of Assaulting a Federal Officer and Using and Carrying a Firearm During and In Relation to a Crime of Violence was sentenced on November 30, 2015, by Judge Roberto A. Lange.

Arthur James Burnette, also known as Kory Young, age 25, was sentenced to 57 months in custody for Assaulting a Federal Officer, and 120 months in custody for Using and Carrying a Firearm During and In Relation to a Crime of Violence, to be served consecutively, for a total of 177 months.  His prison time will be followed by 3 years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay $4,105 in restitution, and $200 in special assessment fees to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.

On March 19, 2015, the defendant was with two women in St. Francis, on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation.  He was driving a stolen 1995 Honda Accord sedan and had a shotgun and ammunition with him in the vehicle.  He was firing the shotgun off and harassing people.  The disturbance was reported by a citizen to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services.  Officers responded and attempted to capture the defendant, who had outstanding tribal warrants.  The defendant fled from the pursuing officers, fleeing into Nebraska.  He obstructed and impeded the officers as he fled, with his vehicle exceeding  98 miles per hour at times.  The defendant was observed hollering obscenities and extending his middle finger at the pursuing officers.  He drove his vehicle in an evasive manner, which included leaving the roadway, recklessly passing other vehicles, as well as forcing other vehicles off the roadway.

At one point, the defendant turned his vehicle around, extended his shotgun out the window and fired at a pursuing officer’s squad car.  That officer was not hurt and called out over the radio that he had been shot at. 

At a different location, another officer stopped his patrol vehicle on a roadway, armed himself with a rifle, and exchanged gunfire with the defendant. No one was injured in the exchange. 

Burnette fled towards Kilgore and Crookston, Nebraska, and then to a different location on Highway 20 in Nebraska, and encountered more officers whom he also menaced with his shotgun.  At a different location, the defendant drove the stolen vehicle off the roadway and into a ditch, breaking the landowner’s fence.  The defendant was arrested at the scene.

This case was investigated by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Law Enforcement Services, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Maher prosecuted the case.

Burnette was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service to serve his sentence.