ABERDEEN – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Court Judge Charles B. Kornmann has sentenced a Kenel, South Dakota man convicted of Assault Resulting in Substantial Bodily Injury to an Intimate Partner. The sentencing took place on October 10, 2023.
Rodd Rough Surface, age 46, was sentenced to two years and one day in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Rough Surface was indicted for assault by a federal grand jury in August of 2022. He pleaded guilty on July 10, 2023.
On May 29, 2021, Rough Surface was at his home in Kenel, in Corson County, within the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. He was drinking alcohol with the victim, his dating partner, when they got into an argument and he assaulted her. He used his hands to strangle her and gave her a black eye, bruising, and rendered her unconscious.
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 Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services, Standing Rock Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Maher prosecuted the case.
Rough Surface was ordered to self-surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons by October 31, 2023.
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