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NEW TOWN - A man is scheduled to change his plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Bismarck to a charge that he assaulted a Three Affiliated Tribes police officer on Jan 6.
Max Garett Moede, who is not Native American, is charged with assaulting a federal officer on the Fort Berthold Reservation.
According to court documents, the Three Affiliated Tribes police department received a call reporting a trailer was on fire at the 4 Bears Casino and Lodge R.V. Park. Moede, who was employed at the casino, had been living in the trailer. No one was injured in the fire. Moede was not on the premises at the time.
Surveillance video from the casino later showed a person believed to be Moede entering and then leaving the trailer. The fire started shortly afterwards.
Police soon received a report that Moede had entered a residence in New Town without permission. Moede was detained and taken to the police department.
Moede later made contradictory statements about how the fire in the trailer started, according to the complaint, and claimed he might have knocked over a candle. He told them he had bought the trailer from someone for $500. Moede was told he was free to leave but allegedly became agitated and was belligerent with officers. He is said to have struck Officer Andres Martinez while resisting arrest.
The maximum sentence for assaulting a federal officer is 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years supervised probation. According to a plea agreement filed with the court, the prosecutor will recommend a sentence at the low end of the guideline for the charge. According to the sentencing guidelines reference in the plea agreement, that might mean a year to 18 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised probation.
- Andrea Johnson