A Pine Ridge Reservation man has been sentenced to concurrent 25-year prison sentences after being convicted by a jury of aggravated assault and 2nd-degree kidnapping in a March 2023 attack on a woman in a Hill City motel
In handing down the sentences to 45-year old Jeremiah Hancotte of Manderson, Judge Joshua Hendrickson said Hancotte’s actions were “evil, unjustified, and brutal.”
During a jury trial last month, the victim testified that she’d recently met Hancotte, who lived and worked at the motel, and that they were talking in his room over drinks when he began making sexual advances.
The woman said Hancotte became violent after she rejected him and started kicking and hitting her until she passed out.
She also said he’d forcibly held her against her will on the balcony of the room before she was able to escape and get help from a nearby group of women gathered for a quilting session, who promptly came to her aid.
The victim read her crime impact statement at Hancotte’s sentencing hearing – saying she constantly feels unsafe and almost never leaves her home, adding that she’s plagued by recurring flashbacks and ongoing physical injuries inflicted by Hancotte.
Chief Prosecutor Angela Shute asked that Hancotte be given the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison for each count and with them to run consecutively because of his long criminal history and the viciousness of his attack,