Source: Office of United States Attorneys
GREAT FALLS — A Box Elder man who admitted to assaulting a woman by cutting her face with a knife during an argument on the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation was sentenced today to five years and seven months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said today.
The defendant, Colten Tyrone Small, also known as Colton Swan, 22, pleaded guilty in September 2024 to assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.
In court documents, the government alleged that in the early morning hours of May 3, 2023, Small punched the victim, identified as Jane Doe, in the face while he held a butcher knife in a residence in Box Elder, on the Rocky Boy’s Reservation. A witness to the assault told law enforcement that Small sliced Doe’s face in the residence. Small and Doe argued, and the fight got more aggressive. After Small cut Doe’s face, the witness beat up Small. There was some fentanyl and alcohol use occurring at the time. Doe was treated at Northern Montana Hospital in Havre for facial injuries from the knife.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The FBI and Rocky Boy’s Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
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