Man pleads guilty in beating

A 24-year-old Great Falls man pleaded guilty this week to beating a man on Halloween night in Havre. His half-brother awaits trial next week on charges stemming from the same incident.

Travis Standing Horn, a former resident of Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, agreed to the plea bargain Monday in state District Court in Havre and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. In exchange, Deputy Hill County Attorney Cyndee Faus will not pursue persistent felony offender status during his sentencing.

Faus also agreed to dismiss a charge of malicious intimidation, a felony, for the Oct. 31 beating of 46-year-old Stanley Wilson of Great Falls.

If Standing Horn were labeled a persistent felony offender, he could have faced up to life imprisonment. He now faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. He is scheduled for sentencing on May 31.

Standing Horn was convicted in January 1997 of criminal sale of dangerous drugs, a felony, in Hill County.

Curtis Stanley, Standing Horn's half-brother and a Box Elder resident, is scheduled for trial on April 17. Stanley, 36, has been charged with aggravated assault and malicious intimidation.

Both Stanley and Standing Horn were accused of beating Wilson for a prolonged period of time on Halloween while driving around in Wilson's van.

Wilson suffered a fractured left eye socket, internal bleeding, a broken nose, several cracked ribs and deep lacerations on his face. His face required extensive reconstruction and is permanently disfigured, Faus said.