Lame Deer felon sentenced to 21 years in prison for assaults on women and illegal possession of firearm

BILLINGS - A Lame Deer man who admitted to assaulting women on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian reservations and to illegally possessing a sawed-off shotgun in two separate cases was sentenced on Wednesday to 21 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said today.

Theo Summers Buffalo Bulltail, 41, pleaded guilty in February to assault resulting in serious bodily injury, assault with a weapon and assault resulting in substantial injury in one case. Buffalo Bulltail also pleaded guilty in August 2023 to prohibited person in possession of a firearm in a separate case.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

"Buffalo Bulltail terrorized women on both the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian reservations through brutal assaults and torture. The injuries and trauma Buffalo Bulltail inflicted will likely follow the victims for the rest of their lives, but I hope that they can begin some measure of healing knowing that Buffalo Bulltail will be incarcerated for a long time. Additionally, Buffalo Bulltail, a felon with multiple convictions, was a danger to the public by illegally possessing guns. With today's sentence, women and communities will be safe from Buffalo Bulltail," U.S. Attorney Laslovich said.

The government alleged in court documents that in the assaults case, Buffalo Bulltail assaulted four women by abusing and torturing them in separate incidents on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian reservations. In an assault in April 2022 involving a victim identified as Jane Doe 1, Buffalo Bulltail struck Doe 1 with various objects including an axe and his hands, breaking her nose and foot, and tortured her for days in a residence in Lame Deer, on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. Doe 1 eventually escaped and flagged down a truck driver. In another assault in July 2022 involving a victim identified as Jane Doe 3, Buffalo Bulltail struck her in the arm with a large knife, causing swelling and bleeding, near Pryor, on the Crow Indian Reservation. Additionally, in March 2022, Buffalo Bulltail punched another victim, identified as Jane Doe 2, in the face twice, breaking her nose, for not giving him keys to a vehicle. Buffalo Bulltail previously drove Jane Doe 2 to a remote area on the Crow Reservation, strangled and threatened to kill her, and in another instance, threatened her with a gun. Finally, in July 2022, Buffalo Bulltail drove another victim, identified as Jane Doe 4, to Lodge Grass, on the Crow Reservation, and said he was going to rape her. He forced her to remove her clothes, pushed her out of the vehicle then yanked her back in by the hair. Doe 4 got dressed and got away when the vehicle got stuck in the mud. Buffalo Bulltail found her the next day and took her to a residence where he repeatedly assaulted her. Doe 4 escaped by running from the residence.

In the firearms case, law enforcement pulled over a vehicle Buffalo Bulltail was driving near Billings on Jan. 18, 2022. Buffalo Bulltail fled from the car but was caught and arrested. Officers found Buffalo Bulltail in possession of a sawed-off shotgun, .40-caliber ammunition, drug baggies and methamphetamine. Buffalo Bulltail had five previous felony convictions at the time and was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition.

The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the case. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Montana Highway Patrol and Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office conducted the firearms investigation. The FBI conducted the assaults investigation.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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