FARGO, ND – A brazen attempt to obstruct justice has landed 19-year-old Daniel Saydee Cisse of Fargo in federal prison for 11 years. Cisse was sentenced Thursday by Chief District Judge Peter Welte for conspiracy to tamper with a federal witness, a desperate move to derail a homicide investigation and protect those responsible.
The plot, revealed during Cisse’s September 25th guilty plea, centered around an assault within the Cass County jail on January 14, 2023. Cisse and his co-conspirators meticulously planned the attack on the witness, aiming to intimidate him into silence and prevent his testimony in the case of Santino Marial, who was gunned down in Fargo on August 28, 2020. The target: to bury information crucial to solving Marial’s drug-related murder.
According to court documents, the assault wasn’t a spontaneous act of jailhouse violence, but a calculated effort to influence an official proceeding. The witness’s potential testimony regarding the circumstances surrounding Marial’s death was deemed a threat, and Cisse was tasked with silencing him through force. The full extent of the conspiracy and the motivations behind it remain under scrutiny.
U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider, District of North Dakota, emphasized the seriousness of the crime. “Tampering with a witness strikes at the heart of our justice system,” Schneider stated. “This sentence sends a clear message that those who attempt to obstruct investigations will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.” Five years of supervised release will follow Cisse’s prison term.
Cisse isn’t acting alone. Jesse James Burnett and Shaquiel Anthony Mendez, identified as co-defendants in the conspiracy, are scheduled to face trial on July 16th. Investigators believe they played significant roles in orchestrating the assault and attempting to cover up the truth behind Marial’s death. Their upcoming trial promises to reveal further details about the network of individuals involved.
The investigation was a collaborative effort between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Fargo Police Department, the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, and the Cass County State’s Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher C. Myers and Jacob T. Rodenbiker are prosecuting the case, determined to bring all those responsible for Marial’s death and the subsequent cover-up to justice. The Marial family deserves answers, and this case is a step towards providing them.
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