BILLINGS — A Lame Deer man who admitted to fatally stabbing another man during an argument at a Crow Agency convenience store on the Crow Indian Reservation was sentenced today to five years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.
James Posey Fisher Sr., 36, pleaded guilty in February to voluntary manslaughter.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided. Judge Watters ordered the sentence to run consecutive to pending state cases in Yellowstone and Big Horn counties.
The government alleged in court documents that on June 28, 2020, at the Teepee Station convenience store in Crow Agency, Fisher stabbed the victim, identified as John Doe, once in the chest. The victim died of a single stab wound before reaching the hospital. Fisher and the victim were with other individuals and were drinking heavily. At some point, Fisher and John Doe began arguing in a car that Fisher was driving and continued the argument when they got out at the convenience store. The argument turned physical. Witnesses thought it was only a fist fight until John Doe backed up suddenly, ran a short distance and collapsed. Witnesses realized John Doe had been stabbed because he was bleeding. Fisher jumped back into the car and drove away.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lori Harper Suek and Jeanne R. Torske and student intern, Alex Butler, prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI.
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