Fort Hall man sentenced in truck driver assault

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - A 24-year-old Fort Hall man was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 57 months in federal prison for assault resulting in serious bodily injury, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced Thursday.

Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye also ordered Stormy Ray Adakai serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

Adakai pleaded guilty to the charge on October 23, 2019. He served six months on the same charge in tribal jail, therefore the Court reduced the original 63-month sentence to give him credit for time served.

According to court records, in the early morning of Sept. 2, 2018, the Fort Hall Police were notified of a truck driver who had been assaulted while inside his semi-truck parked near the TP Gas Station on Ross Fork Road, in the area of the Fort Hall Casino, on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.

The victim told police while he was asleep in his truck’s cab, an unknown male, later identified as Adakai, broke into the cab and assaulted him.

Adakai demanded money and struck the victim repeatedly with rocks. The victim stated that during the assault he tried to scratch the assailant’s face.

As a result of the assault, the victim was hospitalized overnight and suffered a broken nose, a broken orbital (eye) bone and a brain hemorrhage which caused the victim seizures. The treating physician stated the injuries created a substantial risk of death, extreme physical pain and a protracted and obvious disfigurement.

According to court records, video from a nearby camera showed an individual getting into the cab of the truck through the passenger-side door but the lighting and video quality were too poor to make an identification of the subject. A hat not belonging to the victim was later found in the truck.

Fort Hall Police detectives and FBI agents later talked to a witness who said he knew Adakai had committed the assault because he saw Adakai shortly after the assault occurred. Adakai was at a residence lying on the floor, breathing heavily as if he had been running, and had blood all over him and scratches on his face. He was also intoxicated. Adakai told the witness that he had beat up a trucker and had used rocks to assault the man.

Detectives and agents later interviewed Adakai at his residence. He gave a full confession and admitted he had assaulted the trucker. He said he picked up rocks nearby and used those rocks to beat the trucker. He stated that he was intoxicated and wanted money from the victim. Adakai admitted he was wearing the hat which was found inside the truck after the assault.

This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation and Fort Hall Police Department.