Ex-Cowboy Star Sentenced To 10 Years For Brutal Attack On Elderly Man

A former star of the Ultimate Cowboy Showdown faces more than a decade behind bars after savagely beating an elderly man over a debt dispute. Ethan Treadwell, 43, received a ten-year prison sentence with an additional fifteen years suspended for his attack on William 'Junior' Hicks in Hobart, Oklahoma. The violence erupted in January 2024 when Hicks confronted the cowboy about unpaid money from a cattle lease agreement on land Hicks owned.

Prosecutors state Treadwell flew into a rage while allegedly heavily intoxicated. He knocked the 74-year-old victim to the ground and struck him more than ten times with punches and kicks. The assault continued as Treadwell repeatedly kicked Hicks in the face, causing traumatic brain injuries, the loss of fifteen teeth, an orbital blowout on his right eye, and a fractured skull.

The elderly man was airlifted to a hospital where doctors placed him on a ventilator before performing facial reconstruction surgery. Treadwell initially faced aggravated assault charges but pleaded down to lesser maiming counts during sentencing. He admitted guilt to these reduced charges on June 3 after prosecutors proved he was not defending himself against an attack with pliers as he claimed, but rather striking a man holding only a phone.

Medical complications for Hicks grew worse over time. His fractured skull required surgery that involved replacing the broken orbital bone with a metal plate. The patient reported severe pain from this implant and needed further surgery using harvested bone to repair his eye socket. During recovery from that second procedure, Hicks suffered a sudden stroke that left him confined to a wheelchair.

The reality television contestant had just lost another legal battle regarding unpaid debts to the Farmers Cooperative Association. A default judgment ordered him to pay over $104,000 for goods he did not pay for plus court costs and attorney fees. His personal life also crumbled shortly after the assault when his divorce from Kendall Cross was finalized in January 2024 on grounds of incompatibility. Records indicate his first marriage to Lindsey Gayle Linney ended in divorce years earlier as well.

Treadwell appeared on the first season of Ultimate Cowboy Showdown in 2019, competing in stunts like cattle wrangling and horseback riding. Now he must serve at least half of his ten-year sentence before becoming eligible for parole. The court noted that the confrontation occurred outside Mountain Park where both men live on the same road but on conflicting property interests regarding the livestock lease.