{"id":44136,"date":"2026-08-19T05:41:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T10:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=44136"},"modified":"2026-08-15T18:23:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T23:23:31","slug":"bemidji-man-faces-felony-strangulation-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-man-faces-felony-strangulation-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Man Faces Felony Strangulation Charge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Bemidji Man Faces Felony Strangulation Charge<\/h2>\n

Bemidji<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Bemidji man faces felony and misdemeanor domestic assault charges in Beltrami County.<\/p>\n

Silas Xavier Botello, 23, is charged in Beltrami County District Court.<\/p>\n

The most serious count alleges domestic assault by strangulation.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors also charged Botello with misdemeanor domestic assault involving fear of immediate bodily harm or death.<\/p>\n

Property Dispute Led To Police Contact<\/h2>\n

The investigation began February 10, 2026, according to the criminal complaint.<\/p>\n

A woman identified as M.D. contacted police about retrieving property from Botello.<\/p>\n

M.D. told police that Botello was her boyfriend and had locked her out of their shared Bemidji home.<\/p>\n

She said several personal items remained inside the residence.<\/p>\n

Those items included her wallet, debit card, WIC card, EBT card, mail, and nail art supplies.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the nail supplies were valued at about $250.<\/p>\n

M.D. told investigators that Botello wanted repayment for money he had previously given her.<\/p>\n

She alleged Botello planned to keep her property until he received the money.<\/p>\n

\"Silas
Silas Xavier Botello<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Woman Reports Earlier Assault<\/h2>\n

During the investigation, M.D. reported an alleged assault from February 6.<\/p>\n

She said an argument over money became physical inside the couple’s residence.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, M.D. alleged Botello grabbed her neck with one hand.<\/p>\n

She said Botello forced her to the floor while keeping his hand around her neck.<\/p>\n

M.D. estimated the incident lasted about 10 to 15 seconds.<\/p>\n

She told police she feared she might pass out.<\/p>\n

She said she was crying and unable to defend herself during the alleged assault.<\/p>\n

The complaint states that Botello later left the residence.<\/p>\n

Botello Denies Strangulation Allegation<\/h2>\n

Police later contacted Botello and arranged to meet him at the Law Enforcement Center.<\/p>\n

Botello returned the property described by M.D., according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged that an argument occurred but denied strangling M.D.<\/p>\n

Botello now faces one felony count of domestic assault by strangulation.<\/p>\n

The felony carries a maximum sentence of three years and a $5,000 fine.<\/p>\n

The misdemeanor assault charge carries up to 90 days and a $1,000 fine.<\/p>\n

Readers can review Minnesota’s domestic assault by strangulation law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The state’s general domestic assault law is available under Minnesota Statute 609.2242<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Additional court information is available from the Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.<\/p>\n

Botello is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Bemidji man faces felony domestic assault by strangulation and misdemeanor assault charges after an alleged February incident in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[1633,14780,14766,2158,15982,14562,13014],"class_list":["post-44136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-beltrami-county-court","tag-bemidji-crime-news","tag-bemidji-news","tag-domestic-assault","tag-minnesota-felony-charge","tag-silas-xavier-botello","tag-strangulation-charge","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44136"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44138,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44136\/revisions\/44138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}