Browning Woman Sentenced to Prison for Assault That Required Victim’s Brain Surgery

GREAT FALLS — A Browning woman was sentenced to 13 months in federal prison Thursday for a violent assault that left her victim requiring emergency brain surgery, marking another federal prosecution for violent crime on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

Kodie Rae Ground, 30, received the prison term followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty in May to assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided over the sentencing in Great Falls Federal District Court.

The attack occurred on May 29, 2024, when Ground approached John Doe as he sat in his parked car in Browning and asked for a ride. When Doe declined, Ground forced her way into the vehicle and demanded he drive her somewhere.

“Ground refused to get out of the car, so Doe said he would take her to the police station,” according to court documents. “En route, Doe continued to ask Ground to get out of the car, and she continued to refuse.”

When Doe attempted to remove Ground from the car at a traffic light, she became enraged and “beat John Doe on the head while holding an unknown object,” prosecutors said. Ground then took the keys from the ignition, exited the car, threw the keys at Doe and walked away.

The victim went to Blackfeet Hospital after discovering he could not move the left side of his body. A CT scan revealed a subdural hematoma—a brain bleed—requiring emergency transport to Benefis Hospital in Great Falls, where doctors performed a craniotomy to relieve pressure on his brain.

The case represents part of ongoing federal efforts to address violent crime in Indian Country, where federal prosecutors handle major crimes due to jurisdictional complexities on tribal lands. The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services.

Ground’s sentencing follows other recent federal prosecutions on the Blackfeet Reservation. In July, a Spokane man pleaded guilty to fentanyl distribution charges after a 2023 traffic stop, while a Browning man was sentenced for a fatal high-speed crash that killed a motorcyclist.

Federal jurisdiction over major crimes on tribal lands stems from the Major Crimes Act, which gives federal prosecutors authority over serious offenses including assault, murder, and drug trafficking when they occur on Indian reservations.

U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme’s office prosecuted the case as part of the Justice Department’s broader initiative to combat violent crime in Indian Country, where tribal communities often face disproportionate rates of violent crime and limited law enforcement resources.