GREAT FALLS — A Culbertson man has been sentenced to 22 months in prison with two years supervised release for strangulation assault of a woman in a vehicle near Browning in September 2018.
24-year-old Elijah Blaine Eagleman pleaded guilty to strangulation in March in U.S. District Court in Great Falls, according to a Friday morning press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana.
Eagleman had been arguing with the victim, who was driving a vehicle, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation on September 8, 2018. Evidence provided by the prosecution and interviews with law enforcement confirm Eagleman struck the victim and strangled her with his left forearm, pulling her backward into his seat until she lost consciousness.
Law enforcement was called to the scene following reports of a domestic assault incident at the intersection of U.S. Highways 2 and 89 near Browning. An officer approached the vehicle to find Eagleman on top of a crying woman. He appeared to be trying to wave her down. Upon examination by the responding agent, the bruises and injuries to the woman’s neck and face were consistent with strangulation assault.
U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Paulette Stewart prosecuted the case.
Blackfeet Tribal Police and the Bureau of Indian Affairs investigated the case.
