FARGO (KFGO) – A jury in Fargo convicted a north central North Dakota man on several counts related to crimes on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation in 2021 and 2022.
U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider said 21-year-old Nathaniel Azure of St. Michael was found guilty of three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of discharging a gun in a crime of violence, and one count of brandishing a gun in a crime of violence.
According to prosecutors, Azure was involved in a non-fatal shooting in Fort Totten in January of 2021. His brother, Michael Denne, 25, pleaded guilty to his participation in that shooting and has been sentenced.
On May 21, 2022, Azure assaulted a second person while brandishing a gun in St. Michael. 23-year-old Dantae Whitetail of Minnewaukan pleaded guilty to his role in that assault. He will be sentenced next month.
The next day, Azure was involved in another non-fatal shooting of a third person. Skyla Cavanaugh, a 23-year-old St. Michael woman pleaded guilty to being an accessory to that shooting after the fact, providing false statements to federal agents, and retaliating against a witness.
“The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to combating violent crime in Indian country,” Schneider said. “This guilty verdict is a credit to the dogged determination of our career prosecutors and their colleagues in federal law enforcement.”
Azure will be sentenced in April.
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