FROM THE ARCHIVE

Youth sentenced in Pine Ridge beating

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JULY 11, 2000

Wesely Means, 18, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for the beating of Bradley Young, 23, last year on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.

Young was beaten by Means and two other Indian youths, an incident local law enforcement called a "hate crime." However, no evidence of racism was ever found and a local sheriff recanted the allegation.

Young himself also denied allegations that the beating was race influenced. He said he frequently spent time with Pine Ridge youth, often drinking with them.

Young was beaten by Means, then 17 at the time of the August 1999 attack, his cousin Louis Means, 19, and Byron Bissonette, 18, after a night of drinking. All three have been ordered to pay restitution to Young.

Get the Story:
3rd Youth Sentenced in S.D. Beating (The Omaha World Herald 7/11)