Dillon Demery Wetsit
Introduction
Dillon Demery Wetsit is a 38-year-old man from Wolf Point, Montana, who was part of a group that beat a man to death in an abandoned house on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in February 2025. He pleaded guilty in June 2026 to voluntary manslaughter, and on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris sentenced him to 10 years and 10 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. U.S. Attorney Scott Twito announced the sentence, which closes a case in which the two other people who were in the house with Wetsit that night also received long federal prison terms for their roles in the man’s death.
Background Information
Wetsit’s case arose from a death discovered in Wolf Point on Feb. 26, 2025. The victim was found dead on the second floor of a house in town, described by area residents as a local “flop house” where people occasionally went to drink and sleep. In court documents, the government alleged that Wetsit was part of a group that beat a man to death in an abandoned house on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. The case was investigated by the Fort Peck Tribes Criminal Investigation and the FBI, and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Convicted and sentenced.
Investigators found that Wetsit and others, after a night of drinking, had gone into the house in the early morning hours of Feb. 26 and found the victim asleep on the second floor. With Wetsit were Calvin Florin Lester, 37, and Abrianne Lillian Deserly, 26. The assault happened after an argument broke out: Wetsit, along with Lester and Deserly, began to hit the victim, and as the conflict escalated the beating became more severe. At one point, the victim was placed in a chokehold while members of the group hit him. A medical examination showed the victim died from “homicidal violence” with neck compression and blunt injuries to the head.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The consequences arrived in three sentencings. Wetsit pleaded guilty in June 2026 to voluntary manslaughter, and Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided over the case. On Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, Morris sentenced Wetsit to 10 years and 10 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. His two companions in the house that night had already been sentenced: Calvin Florin Lester was sentenced on Sept. 3 to nearly 11 years in prison for his role in the man’s death, and Abrianne Lillian Deserly was sentenced on Sept. 14 to 11 years and four months in prison for her role. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case, and the Fort Peck Tribes Criminal Investigation and the FBI conducted the investigation.
Current Status
Wetsit is in federal custody, serving a sentence of 10 years and 10 months in prison that is to be followed by three years of supervised release. The sentence was imposed by Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris after Wetsit’s June 2026 guilty plea to voluntary manslaughter. The release records no appeal. It also records no public response from Wetsit. Lester and Deserly received their sentences in September, and the release records no further court dates in the case.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Wetsit’s sentence removes him from ordinary life for more than a decade: 10 years and 10 months in prison beginning at age 38, then three years living under federal supervised release, with a federal felony conviction for voluntary manslaughter on the record. The man he helped kill died of “homicidal violence” — neck compression and blunt injuries to the head — in a house neighbors knew as a place to drink and sleep. The others in the house that night are serving their own terms: nearly 11 years for Lester and 11 years and four months for Deserly.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana, “Wolf Point man sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for beating man to death,” October 28, 2026 — source