POPLAR — A Poplar man was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for threatening a woman with a knife and forcing her to perform oral sex on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in 2022.
Chucho Cruzito Garfield, 40, received a 68-month prison sentence followed by 10 years of supervised release after pleading guilty in June to one count of aggravated sexual abuse. Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris handed down the sentence on November 25 in Great Falls Federal District Court.
The Crime
On June 14, 2022, Fort Peck law enforcement responded to a report of intoxicated juveniles fighting at a residence in Poplar. When officers arrived, they learned from the victim’s brother that Garfield had held a knife to the woman’s throat and prevented her from leaving a back room of the house.
An officer entered the home and arrested the victim on an active tribal court warrant. Garfield was also arrested after the woman reported he had given her a black eye the day before and prevented her from leaving by holding a knife to her throat.
The victim later told investigators that Garfield had walked her from her house to his on June 14. When her brother confronted Garfield about the black eye outside the house, Garfield grabbed her by the arm and jerked her inside.
“Doe told Garfield she wanted to go home, but Garfield told Doe she had to have sex with him and let him slap her around before she could go home,” according to court documents filed by federal prosecutors.^1
Garfield then forced the victim to perform oral sex while holding a black pocketknife to her throat and chest during the assault.
Investigation and Prosecution
Garfield initially denied striking or sexually abusing the victim but eventually admitted she was telling the truth.
The FBI and Fort Peck Tribes Department of Law and Justice conducted the joint investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana prosecuted the case.
This case represents the latest sentencing in a series of federal sexual abuse prosecutions on the Fort Peck Reservation. In September, another Poplar man received more than four years in federal prison for sexually abusing a minor in a separate case.
The case represents federal authorities’ ongoing prosecution of major crimes on tribal lands in Montana, where serious offenses fall under federal jurisdiction through the Major Crimes Act.