RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - A man accused of instigating the deadly beating of another man on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 2015 has been convicted on two charges.
A jury on Friday afternoon found 25-year-old Calmer Cottier guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit assault.
Cottier faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for the killing of 30-year-old Ferris Brings Plenty, who was beaten with a machete, a stick, a bat and a cinder block.
Authorities say Brings Plenty was visiting his mother and didn’t know his attackers.
Cottier was acquitted of solicitation to commit a crime of violence.
Five of Cottier’s co-defendants have been sentenced in the case, including three men for second-degree murder.
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