Terra Lee Brandy Running Crane Sentenced in U.S. District Court

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The United States Attorney’s Officeannounced that during a federal court session in Great Falls on October 1,2012, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, Terra Lee Brandy Running Crane,a 27-year-old resident of Browning and an enrolled member of the BlackfeetTribe, appeared for sentencing. Running Crane was sentenced to a term of:
■Prison: 57 months■Special assessment: $100■Supervised release: three years
Running Crane was sentenced after afederal district court trial in which she was found guilty of assault with adangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
At trial, the following evidence andtestimony was presented to the jury.
On November 22, 2011, Running Cranefloored her green Tahoe directly into a male individual, identified hereafteras “the victim,” as he stood outside a house in Browning, which is within theexterior boundaries of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. An eyewitnesstestified that Running Crane was the driver of the vehicle that acceleratedinto the victim. Running Crane’s boyfriend then hopped in the passenger seat,and they sped off. The victim was left bleeding as he tried to lift himself outof a window at the house that the car ejected him through. Others inside rushedout to help him. He suffered fractures in his ankle, requiring the placement oftwo skews and a painful skin graft on his back. The Tahoe was later foundabandoned in a ditch on the reservation.
Before Running Crane hit and injured thevictim, she had been drinking inside with the victim and other individuals. Thevictim recalled Running Crane’s boyfriend getting tough and aggressive withhim. The victim told Running Crane and her boyfriend to leave. The victim,defendant, and her boyfriend all went outside. The victim was chasing off theboyfriend when he was run into by Running Crane driving a green Tahoe. Thevictim described Running Crane as gunning the car over the sidewalk to strikehim.
The victim saw a lot of blood comingfrom his left arm. His leg was pinned to the wall, and his body went throughthe window. The vehicle backed up. After being struck, the victim faded in andout of consciousness and stopped breathing at several points. Anotherindividual came to the victim’s aid, kept him awake, and covered him with ablanket. The victim’s injuries included a fractured ankle—requiring surgery,and approximately 34 stitches/staples. He was given potent pain medication. Thevictim’s injuries also necessitated a skin graft on his back.
The owner of the house and the victim’ssister testified that she looked out a bedroom window and saw a dark greenChevy Tahoe back away from the window. Running Crane was in the driver’s seat.The car was on the curb in front of the residence when Running Crane backed upthe Tahoe. Running Crane’s boyfriend was in the passenger seat of the vehicleas it backed away. The victim was on the ground; he tried to get up but couldnot lift himself. He was bleeding heavily from his left side. Neighbors called911.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura B. Weissprosecuted the case for the United States.
Because there is no parole in thefederal system, the “truth in sentencing” guidelines mandate that Running Cranewill likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system,Running Crane does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for “goodbehavior.” However, this reduction will not exceed 15 percent of the overallsentence.
The investigation was a cooperativeeffort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Blackfeet LawEnforcement Services.