Two men sentenced in federal court for 2014 crimes on Red Lake Indian Reservation

BEMIDJI—A Red Lake man and a Redby man recently were sentenced in federal court to a combined 40 years in prison for crimes that occurred on the Red Lake Indian Reservation last year.

Christopher Michael Strong, 34, of Red Lake, was sentenced May 7 in U.S. District Court in Duluth to 30 years in federal prison for a violent sexual assault in June on the reservation.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Strong brutally and repeatedly abused the victim over a three-day period. He was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault on Dec. 19 after a three-day trial.

In the second, unrelated case, Quentin Lee Strong, 29, of Redby, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for an August shooting on the reservation. Quentin Strong plead guilty Jan, 26 to assault resulting in serious bodily injury and was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Duluth.

According to his guilty plea and court documents, on the morning of Aug.19, Quentin Strong was illegally in possession of a .22 caliber rifle, which he used outside of his house to fire multiple rounds in the direction of a female victim. One of the bullets hit the victim in her left knee, a release said.

Because the Red Lake Indian Reservation is a federal-jurisdiction reservation, some crimes are investigated by the FBI in conjunction with the Red Lake Tribal Police Department. Those cases are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office.