Strangulation assault on Blackfeet Indian Reservation sends Browning man to prison for more than three years

GREAT FALLS — A Browning man who admitted strangling his dating partner on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, despite a no-contact order, was sentenced today to three years and six months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

The defendant, Alphonse Trevon Bird IV, 20, pleaded guilty in March to assault of a dating partner by strangulation and suffocation.

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

In court documents, the government alleged that Bird and the victim, Jane Doe, were in a dating relationship. On Dec. 27, 2023, Bird, Doe and two others were in a vehicle when Bird and Doe got into an argument and pulled over to the side of the road. Doe got out of the vehicle and Bird tried to pull her back. Doe tried to run away, but Bird chased her down, got on top of her stomach and put her in a chokehold. Bird assaulted and strangled Doe. At the time of the assault, Bird had been ordered by a court to have no contact with Doe.

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

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