An 18-year-old from the Leech Lake Ojibwe Reservation in Minnesota was sentenced to 17 years in prison and 8 1/2 years of supervised release for his role in the brutal beating death of a blind man.

George Allen Raphael Boswell was 16 at the time of Darrell Bisson's murder in November 2002. Boswell and three others were charged with beating Bisson to death with an ax handle.

Boswell had argued he was trying to stop two others from attacking Bisson. A jury convicted him on two counts of second-degree murder and one count of manslaughter. A judge vacated the manslaughter charge.

One other teen is awaiting trial for the death. A second teen was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter.

Get the Story:
Cass Lake teen sentenced in beating (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 8/4)
pwpwd

Full Series:
The lost youth of Leech Lake | Slide Shows | Discussion Forum | About this series | Editor's Note

Related Stories:
Teen convicted of murder on Leech Lake Reservation (06/28)
Trial into beating death on Leech Lake Reservation (06/23)
Opinion: 'Lost Youth' series was poor journalism (06/07)
Leech Lake Tribe responds: 'We Are Not Lost' (05/27)
Walk planned in protest of Leech Lake youth series (05/05)
Opinion: 'Offensive' series on reservation youth (5/3)
Editorial: Culture holds solution for Ojibwe youth (5/3)
Opinion: Tribal families have no support system (5/3)
Letters: Responses to Lost Youth of Leech Lake (5/3)
U.S. Attorney: Lack of opportunity behind crisis (5/3)
Beacons of hope for youth of Leech Lake Reservation (4/27)
Paper examines 'lost youth' of Leech Lake reservation (4/26)