Messerly pleads not guilty to assault with a baseball bat

Leon Boyd Messerly, 55, pleaded not guilty in federal District Court in Great Falls before Magistrate Judge John Johnston to charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Messerly is accused of attacking and injuring a person with a bat on Fort Belknap Indian Reservation at Halftown July 9.

District Judge Brian Morris scheduled Messerly’s trial for Nov. 21.

If convicted of the most serious charge contained in the indictment, Messerly faces up to 10 years in prison, $250,000 in fines and three years supervised release. 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.