Man Who Brutally Attacked Sleeping Trucker Given Lenient Prison Sentence

Pocatello, ID – A man who pleaded guilty to brutally beating a Missouri trucker during an attempted robbery in 2018 has been sentenced to only about half of the 10-year prison term he was facing.

On Thursday, Stormy Ray Adakai, 24, of Fort Hall, ID, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 57 months in federal prison for assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

According to U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis, Adakai served six months on the same charge in tribal jail, therefore the Court reduced an original 63-month sentence to give him credit for time served.

In October of 2019, Adakai pleaded guilty to the charge stemming from his attack on truck driver Amos Phillips.

In addition to Chief U.S. District Judge David C. Nye’s order that Adakai serve only about half of the possible 10-year sentence, he also ordered Adakai to serve three years of supervised release.

Adakai also faced a fine of up to $250,000, but no fine was imposed.

The Attack

The savage beating, which garnered many local and national headlines, occurred on September 2, 2018, at approximately 3:02 a.m, inside Phillips’s truck.

Phillips was sleeping and parked at TP Truck Stop in Fort Hall near the Fort Hall Casino, on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, when Adakai broke his way into the passenger side door of his truck.

According to the Fort Hall Police and the FBI, Adakai admitted to breaking into Phillips’s semi and beating him with two rocks after demanding money.

Court documents indicate Adakai also admitted he was intoxicated at the time of the attack.

Phillips was thankfully able to fend off the attack, but not before sustaining serious injuries which now threaten his ability to continue his career as a truck driver.

As a result of the assault, Phillips suffered a broken nose, a broken orbital (eye) bone, and a brain hemorrhage.

He also has continued to suffer seizures as a result of the brain hemorrhage.

Phillips Wanted More Charges

Shortly after Adakai was indicted, Phillips spoke out about the case to the Post Register.

In that interview, Phillips lashed out at investigators and prosecutors, demanding Adakai be charged with more serious crimes.

“I don’t think they are charging this man hard enough,” Phillips said. “There are several charges that the prosecuting attorney’s office said they aren’t going to file, (including) breaking and entering and attempted robbery. They have charged him with assault, but I think it should be attempted murder.”

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Phillips said the prosecuting attorney explained to him that additional charges were not filed because of the way in which the Fort Hall Police Department investigated the scene of the crime.

According to evidence in the case, the Fort Hall Police Department did not immediately dispatch a detective to investigate.

Further, Phillips also claims Fort Hall police did not adequately preserve incriminating DNA evidence from the scene.

He says police acknowledged to him well after the attack they hadn’t recovered crucial evidence including fingerprints, potential sources of DNA and the two rocks Adakai confessed to using in the attack.

Phillips also leveled charges against the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Police for failure to properly investigate the matter.

Phillips racked up medical bills in excess of $50,000.

As a result of his physical and mental injuries suffered during the attack, he says it is unlikely he will ever drive a big rig professionally again.