Source: US FBI
ABERDEEN – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann has sentenced a man from Mobridge, South Dakota, who was convicted of Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury. The sentencing took place on August 18, 2025.
Kendall Lee White Tail, age 34, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
White Tail was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2024. He pleaded guilty on May 19, 2025.
On the evening of June 25, 2023, White Tail confronted and threatened a couple strolling in McLaughlin, South Dakota, within the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. White Tail placed a pistol to the woman’s head and racked it, saying “I’ll get you.” Later that night, White Tail approached the man, who was chatting with a friend on a stoop. White Tail had a pistol in one hand and a knife in the other. White Tail slashed the man’s face and leg with the knife, then pistol whipped him. The man permanently lost sight in his left eye and suffered fractured orbital and nasal bones in the assault.
This matter was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian country be prosecuted in federal court as opposed to State court.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs – Office of Justice Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl Thunem prosecuted the case.
White Tail was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.