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Montana woman sentenced to prison for driving into religious group

A Billings woman who repeatedly drove into a religious group gathered downtown has been sentenced to prison.
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BILLINGS — A Billings woman who repeatedly drove into a religious group gathered downtown has been sentenced to prison.

Yellowstone County District Court Judge Rod Souza ordered Genevienne Marlene Rancuret to serve 20 years in prison, with 5 years suspended, on a felony charge of assault with a weapon.

At a hearing on July 17, Souza also ordered Rancuret to serve concurrent 6-month jail terms for misdemeanor convictions of criminal mischief and driving under the influence.

The judge ordered those sentences to be served consecutively to a previous 7-year sentence she received in an unrelated 2021 felony assault case and subsequent probation revocation.

Rancuret, 57, previously pleaded no contest to the most recent charges related to the incident in December 2023.

Rancuret was originally charged with nine felony counts of assault with a weapon for repeatedly driving a Jeep Wrangler into a group of nine people gathered at a downtown Billings intersection. Members of the group belonged to a religious organization known as Israel United for Christ.

One person in the group suffered an injury to his leg and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Prosecutors agreed to dismiss eight of the felony charges in exchange for Rancuret's plea. She was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $5,300.37, according to court records.