United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced that a Wanblee, South Dakota, man convicted of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon and Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury was sentenced on August 18, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier.
Paige Aaron Chipps, age 32, was sentenced to eight years and six months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $200 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Chipps was indicted by a federal grand jury in May of 2021 and pleaded guilty in April 2022. The conviction stems from Chipps assaulting a woman in her home in Wanblee in February 2021 by kicking her while wearing boots. The woman then went outside and fell in the snow and was unable to get up due to her injuries, eventually dying of hypothermia.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Criminal Investigators. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Patterson prosecuted the case.
Chipps was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.