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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2002

A federal appeals court on Tuesday affirmed the prison term of a South Dakota tribal member who pleaded guilty to killing his second cousin.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals said the 110-month sentence was appropriate for O'Neil Frank Iron Cloud. The court also upheld restitution Iron Cloud was ordered to pay the victim's family.

Iron Cloud, 19, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, had sexual intercourse and beat his 17-year-old relative during a June 2001 party. He repeatedly dunked her in a river and she drowned.

Iron Cloud was indicted by a federal grand jury for second-degree murder. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

A federal judge imposed the jail term and three years of supervised release. The sentence was an "upward departure" of guidelines because of Iron Cloud's "unusually cruel, brutal, and degrading treatment of the victim," the appeals court said.

The appeals court upheld an order for Iron Cloud to pay $3,000 to the victim's family for a traditional giveaway.

Get the Decision:
US v. IRON CLOUD, No. 02-1640 (8th Cir. December 10, 2002)