Garryowen man sentenced for vehicular death on Crow Indian Reservation

BILLINGS - A Garryowen man who caused the death of his female passenger in a motor vehicle crash was sentenced today to 24 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Tim Racicot said.

Cade Cleatus Birdinground, 20, pleaded guilty in November 2025 to one count of involuntary manslaughter.

U.S. District Judge William W. Mercer presided.

The government alleged in court documents that at approximately 4:30 A.M. on May 18, 2024, police responded to a motor vehicle crash on Highway 384 near Hardin, Montana on the Crow Reservation. There, police located a truck that had gone off the road and was partially submerged in the Big Horn River. Upon recovering the vehicle from the river, police discovered the body of a deceased female on the floorboard in the passenger seat area.

Police learned Birdinground had been taken in by neighbors near the scene of the crash. He had the key to the truck in his pocket and was intoxicated. Birdinground's blood alcohol content was 218 mg/dL at 6:00 a.m., approximately 90 minutes after the crash.

Through the investigation, witnesses identified Birdinground as the driver. Police learned Jane Doe was a passenger in the vehicle at the time of the crash. Witnesses reported Birdinground was driving recklessly and crashed the truck. The Montana Highway Patrol conducted a crash investigation and confirmed the driver failed to negotiate a curve in the road and crashed down an 18-foot embankment into the river.

An autopsy revealed Jane Doe's cause of death was drowning and the manner of death was an accident related to being a passenger in a motor vehicle collision into a river.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelsey Hendricks prosecuted the case. The BIA, FBI, Big Horn County Sheriff's Office, and Montana Highway Patrol conducted the investigation.

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