Ethan Treadwell, a former reality TV cowboy, is headed to prison after an Oklahoma attack on his elderly landlord over a rent dispute left the victim with lasting injuries. The Ethan Treadwell sentencing in Oklahoma came Wednesday, when a judge imposed a 25-year sentence with 15 years suspended for the January 2024 assault on William “Junior” Hicks, 74.
The case centered on a property dispute in Kiowa County, where Hicks had leased land to Treadwell for seven years before serving him an eviction notice in December 2023, according to a civil lawsuit Hicks later filed. Hicks said Treadwell had agreed to leave the land and had stopped paying rent, but continued grazing cattle on the property in southwest Oklahoma. Hicks told the court that on Jan. 30, 2024, he saw Treadwell moving cattle off the land and confronted him, asking that the work stop until the rent was paid.
Hicks said the encounter quickly turned violent. He said Treadwell attacked him “without provocation” and beat him into an unconscious state. Treadwell’s ex-wife, who was present, told authorities that Treadwell knocked Hicks to the ground and repeatedly kicked him, according to KBTX. Hicks later suffered traumatic brain injuries and a broken nose and was placed on a ventilator for a period of time. In his lawsuit, he described the injuries as “severe, debilitating and permanent.”
Treadwell was originally charged with aggravated assault and battery, but he later entered a blind guilty plea to a reduced maiming charge. The civil lawsuit was dismissed in 2025 while the criminal case was still moving through court. Treadwell apologized to Hicks in court Tuesday, telling him he wished the events had never happened, according to KBTX. Hicks’ daughter also addressed the court about her father’s injuries and recovery.
