Browning man who shot, wounded man in the head on Blackfeet Indian Reservation sentenced to more than five years in prison

GREAT FALLS — A Browning man who admitted to shooting and wounding a man in the head on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation was sentenced today to five years and six months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

The defendant, Joseph Paul Vandenberg, 21, pleaded guilty in March to assault with a dangerous weapon and to using a firearm during a crime of violence as charged in an indictment.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

The government alleged in court documents that in the early morning hours of March 11, 2022 in Browning, on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Vandenberg was a backseat passenger in a vehicle that was cruising around when the driver pulled up and blocked the driveway of a home. The victim, identified as John Doe, and a friend, got into an SUV that was backed into the driveway. Doe tried to maneuver around the vehicle. Vandenberg opened the back door of the vehicle, pulled out a firearm and fired a round as Doe’s vehicle was driving away. The bullet grazed the side of Doe’s head and lodged in the dashboard at the base of the windshield. Doe was treated for a large laceration on his head. Vandenberg admitted to being the shooter and told law enforcement that the driver told him to shoot, and he did because he was scared.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The FBI and Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services conducted the investigation.

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