GREAT FALLS — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)), published as received.
GREAT FALLS – A Browning man who strangled one girlfriend and beat another almost to death was sentenced today to five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Scott Twito said.
Jeremiah James Harwood, 23, pleaded guilty under a global plea agreement in August 2026 to three charges from two separate cases: strangulation, assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and witness tampering.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.
The government alleged in court documents that Harwood strangled one intimate partner and beat another almost to death. After beating his partner, he then tried to convince her to change her testimony against him.
Harwood strangled his first partner using a lanyard she was wearing. The two were fighting and Harwood tackled the victim while trying to take her phone. He then grabbed the lanyard she had around her neck and began to choke her until she couldn’t breathe. At that point she stopped resisting and Harwood let go.
Roughly a year later, while on pretrial release for the strangulation charge, Harwood was in a new relationship with a different partner. Harwood attacked that partner on two occasions about two weeks apart, each time sending her to the hospital with significant head injuries. After the second assault, his partner was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury that required intubation and surgery.
Law enforcement began an investigation after the assault, at which point Harwood reached out to the victim and attempted to convince her to redo her statement and tell investigators he was not involved. Instead, she reported him to the FBI.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services and the FBI conducted the investigation.
