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White Earth man gets nearly 8 years for kidnapping, beating

Jeremy James Potter, 37, of 35947 Beaver trail, White Earth was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison for his role in the Oct. 19, 2008 assault and kidnapping of a 22-year-old Naytahwaush man.

Jeremy James Potter, 37, of 35947 Beaver trail, White Earth was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison for his role in the Oct. 19, 2008 assault and kidnapping of a 22-year-old Naytahwaush man.

According to court records, the victim was beaten severely, had his hands and feet bound with duct tape and was beaten by Potter and another man with a variety of objects, including clubs, bottles and possibly a pool cue and gun.

An anonymous tip alerted White Earth tribal police officers that an assault was occurring in the basement of a house there, but the victim and suspects were gone when police arrived.

The suspects had apparently been listening to a police scanner, and put the victim into the back of a Ford Explorer, then took off.

A deputy found the Explorer overturned on County Road 133, sometimes called "Government Road," which has steep embankments and runs through a wooded, swampy area.

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At the crash site, the deputy heard a man in the back of the Explorer and found the victim, still bound with duct tape.

He was subsequently treated at St. Mary's Innovis Health for a broken nose, and required multiple stitches and staples to secure wounds to his head and face.

Potter appeared Friday before District Judge Peter Irvine, who sentenced him to 93 months in prison on a felony count of kidnapping -- not released in a safe place -- great bodily harm.

A second felony charge of second-degree assault with a weapon and bodily harm was dropped in a plea agreement.

Potter must also pay a $50 fine plus court fees from his prison earnings.

The other man involved in the case, Richard Eugene Stone, 32, of 597 Thomas, St. Paul, was sentenced in early May to nearly four years in prison for his role in the assault.

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