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Man pleads guilty to 2017 stabbing on reservation

Deland Cornpeach admitted to stabbing a member of the Ute Indian Tribe.

A man has pleaded guilty in the 2017 stabbing death of another man on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation.

Deland Cornpeach, 20, of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of voluntary manslaughter and one count of assault on a federal officer, according to a news release from the Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Cornpeach was arrested in June 2017 in connection with the stabbing death of Eli Ray Poowegup, a member of the Ute Indian Tribe.

According to the Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office, Cornpeach also assaulted two Davis County Sheriff’s deputies while in the Davis County jail.

Cornpeach has agreed to serve 84 months in prison as part of his plea agreement, according to the news release. His sentencing has been set for April 13, 2021, according to court documents.

The Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office said FBI agents conducted the investigation into Poowegup’s death with the assistance of officers from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

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Author
Rebekah WahlbergCopy editor / web manager

After being raised in California and spending a year in Arizona, Utah is the latest stop on Rebekah's tour of the Great American West. Everywhere she goes, she lugs along a pile of DVDs, more books than sense and an abiding love for storytelling in every imaginable media.