A Wolf Point woman accused in the kidnapping and assault of a minor girl on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation admitted on Jan. 26 to her role in the kidnapping.
Patti Jo Annunciata Mail, 23, pleaded guilty to kidnapping of an individual under 18. She faces a mandatory minimum 20 years to a maximum of life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and not less than five years of supervised release.
Sentencing was set for June 8 and Mail was detained pending further proceedings.
In court documents, the government alleges on Sept. 15, 2021, a group of people lured the victim, a 15-year-old girl from her house in Wolf Point and kidnapped her.
That evening, after drinking alcohol, Mail accompanied the group to the victim’s home.
The victim was lured out of her home and the situation escalated. The group assaulted the victim in her front yard.
When eyewitnesses yelled that they were going to call the police, some in the group kidnapped the victim, forcing her into a vehicle and driving away so that they could continue to assault her.
Mail helped to seize, confine and abduct the victim, taking her to a vacant field in Wolf Point, where some in the group beat the victim again.
Co-defendants Lavanchie Patricia Goodbird and Elmarie Amelia Weeks have pleaded guilty to charges in the case and are pending sentencing.
Co-defendants Cheri Cruz Granbois, Dylan Troy Jackson and Kaylee Jade Jackson have pleaded not guilty and are pending trial.
