Fort Totten Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Federal Prison for Sexually Abusing Children

Fargo - United States Attorney Mac Schneider announced that Wendell James Snell, age 42, from Fort Totten, ND, was sentenced to 360 months in federal prison on November 21, 2024. Snell had previously pled guilty to five counts of Abusive Sexual Contact of a Child. At sentencing, the Honorable Peter D. Welte, Chief Judge United States District Court for the District of North Dakota, imposed six-year, statutory maximum sentences on each count, to run consecutively. Following his thirty-year sentence, Snell will be subject to a lifetime of supervised release and a number of conditions, including not having contact with minors.

Snell's guilty pleas and sentence relate to his sexual abuse of three children, each under the age of 12 years old, between the years of 2011 to 2014 on the Spirit Lake Reservation.

"This serious sentence is seriously appropriate considering the defendant's unforgivable abuse of multiple children," Schneider said. "We hope it will provide some space for the victims to heal and deter this kind of abhorrent behavior in the future. Our career prosecutors and FBI partners are committed to protecting kids in Indian country and wherever we have jurisdiction, and as this case shows we will firmly hold abusers to account in federal court."

"The depravity of Snell's actions is reflected in today's sentencing," said Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of FBI Minneapolis. "When the most vulnerable of our citizens - our children - are victimized, the FBI will do everything in our power to hold the perpetrators accountable and to protect others from harm."

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Lori H. Conroy.

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