Ft. Thompson Men Plead Guilty to Second-Degree Murder and Manslaughter Charges

U.S. Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that two Ft. Thompson men, Alphonso Drapeau, III, age 22, and his brother, Gavin Drapeau, age 20, appeared before U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange on April 10, 2012.

Alphonso pled guilty to a superseding information that charged him with second-degree murder. The maximum penalty upon conviction is life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both, and a period of supervised release of five years.

Gavin pled guilty to a superseding information that charged him with voluntary manslaughter. The maximum penalty upon conviction is 15 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both, and a period of supervised release of five years.

The convictions stem from an incident on October 2, 2011, when the victim was at a residence in Lower Brule, South Dakota. The Drapeau brothers, who had been looking to confront the victim, arrived at the residence, and a struggle ensued. Gavin stuck the victim with a closed fist. The victim fell to the floor, and Alphonso repeatedly stomped on the victim’s head with shod feet.

As a result of the assault, the victim was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, and on October 10, 2011, was pronounced dead by medical personnel. An autopsy ruled the cause of death to be blunt force injury of the head due to an assault.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Brendan V. Johnson and Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan N. Dilges.

Presentence investigations were ordered, and a sentencing date was set for July 3, 2012. Both defendants were remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending sentencing.