A federal grand jury indicted Fort Hall Reservation resident Stormy Ray Adakai, 23, on one count of an “assault resulting in serious bodily injury,” announced Bart Davis, U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho.
Adakai was arrested Nov. 8 after confessing to beating Missouri trucker Amos Phillips at the TP Truck Stop. Phillips says he was sleeping in his truck when Adakai broke in Sept. 3 and demanded money. After a scuffle, during which Phillips says he was beaten on the head with rocks, the assailant fled.
If convicted of assault, Stormy Adakai could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine.As early as this week the U.S. District Court will set an arraignment date for Adakai, said Cassie Fulghum, public information officer for the U.S. attorney’s office. The defendant will plead guilty or not, and a date will be set for a trial in Pocatello, usually two or three months away.
The charge against Adakai is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.
Phillips said he’s disappointed that there were no additional charges, such as breaking and entering, attempted robbery and attempted murder. Fulghum said she doesn’t know if those charges were considered or why they were not brought.
Phillips says he was told by the prosecutor’s office that evidence and Adakai’s confession did not support other charges.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Fort Hall Police Department. Fort Hall is home to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, who operate the TP Truck Stop on I-15 just north of Pocatello.
The head wounds Phillips received in the attack included a blood clot on his brain that later resulted in seizures. Because of the seizures and the medication he takes to control them, Phillips, 64, doesn’t expect he’ll return to professional driving. He would have to be free of the medication and seizures for five years to be able to do so.
Fundraising efforts, some initiated by his employer, John Williams, are helping to pay for medical expenses for Phillips, who has no health insurance. Phillips drove for Williams’ JWE Inc., a five-truck fleet based in Camdenton, Mo., which is also where Phillips lives.
