A Great Falls man who admitted to assaulting another man with a baseball bat on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and illegally possessing ammunition was sentenced June 26 in federal court to three years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Paul Joseph Valenzuela, 56, pleaded guilty in January to assault resulting in serious bodily injury and to prohibited person in possession of ammunition.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

According to court documents, Valenzuela and others went to the victim’s residence on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation on Aug. 23, 2023.

Valenzuela charged with making threats; illegally possessing firearms [2023]

Valenzuela and others assaulted the victim, identified as John Doe, with a baseball bat and the victim suffered serious injuries, including multiple fractured bones, according to court documents.

When law enforcement searched Valenzuela’s residence, they located 60 rounds of ammunition. Valenzuela was prohibited from possessing ammunition because of multiple prior felony convictions.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The FBI, Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation.

Valenzuela had also been charged with making threats to a federal agent and a separate charge of assault with a dangerous weapon, but in a January plea agreement, he agreed to plead guilty to a count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and illegally possessing ammunition in exchange for the government dropping the other two charges.

The court issued a warrant for his arrest on Aug. 10, 2023 and law enforcement executed that warrant on Aug. 14, taking Valenzuela into custody.

In court documents, the government alleged that Valenzuela, who has felony convictions, illegally possessed a firearm, and that on Aug. 7, he made threats to an FBI officer in text messages in which he which he refers to having access to firearms and stated, “Shoot at me I shoot back,” according to court documents.

Officials identity suspect in March 17 shooting [2023]

According to charging documents, an FBI agent in Shelby assigned to the FBI Safe Trails Task Force, which operates within the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, began receiving information about Valenzuela, who was a known violent offender living in Browning.

Local law enforcement sources told the FBI agent that Valenzuela possessed firearms and was involved in trafficking large amounts of methamphetamine on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, according to court documents.

Valenzuela had six felony convictions in Washington between 1986 and 2017 for burglary, theft, attempt to elude, rendering criminal assistance, and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm. He had also been arrested on other felony crimes and convicted of misdemeanor assault and domestic violence, according to court documents.

In 2019, the Toole County Sheriff’s Office was told that Valenzuela and his son had posted pictures of themselves holding firearms and making threats to Simms Public School.

The son was suspended for a year and later expelled, according to court documents.

CCSO identifies homicide victim, investigation ongoing [2023]

Valenzuela was investigated multiple times since then for possession of weapons and drug trafficking, according to court documents.

In March 2023, Valenzuela was contacted in regard to his 17-year-old son being involved in a fatal shooting that month that was being investigated by the Great Falls Police Department.

Valenzuela told investigators that he didn’t know where his son obtained the gun used in the shooting, according to court documents.

In August 2023, FBI agents were investigating allegations that Valenzuela had assaulted his son-in-law with a baseball bat in April.

Valenzuela sent text messages to the investigating agent saying “shoot at me I shoot back,” according to the criminal complaint.

On Aug. 8, a Great Falls Police detective told the FBI agents that Valenzuela’s son had gotten into a gang related altercation in March during which is brandished a pistol. Another male pulled out a knife and confronted Valenzuela’s son, who allegedly shot and killed the male with the knife, according to charging documents.

The son was interviewed and released to Valenzuela, according to court documents.

Valenzuela’s son wasn’t charged in that incident since there is evidence supporting self defense, the Cascade County Attorney’s Office told The Electric in August 2023.

GFPD also informed the FBI that in May, Valenzuela’s son was hanging out with friends in Chowen Springs Park when two of his friends got into an altercation and stabbed someone to death, according to court documents.

The son witnessed the murder and fled the scene, but was later taken into custody and interviewed, according to court documents.

Valenzuela was present during the interview and later brought clothes for his son in a backpack, according to charging documents. During the process, GFPD detectives found live 9mm cartridges in the backpack, according to court documents.

According to GFPD, Bing Ahenakew and Charlotte Andrade, who were 20 and 18 respectively at the time of the incident, were charged with felony accountability to deliberate homicide.

Valenzuela’s son wasn’t charged in that incident since he was present but not directly involved, according to the county attorney’s office.

A jury found Andrade not guilty on June 20 and a district court judge ordered her release on June 21, according to the district court’s records system.

Ahenakew’s trial is currently set for January 2025.