Tribal Justice News

Week Of Sept. 22, 2009

Associate Attorney General Announces More Than $236 Million in Public Safety Funding to Tribal Communities (ASG)
Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli announced on Sept. 21 that the Department of Justice is awarding more than $236 million in Recovery Act and Fiscal Year 2009 public safety funding to criminal justice initiatives in Indian Country nationwide. The vital support to tribal communities includes more than $224 million in Recovery Act funding to construct and renovate prisons and jails in Indian Country and nearly $12 million to enhance and improve the juvenile justice systems for American Indian and Alaskan Native youth throughout the country.  The Justice Department official is in Albuquerque for the second of two working sessions with tribal leadership and law enforcement experts leading up to the Attorney General’s Tribal Nations Listening Conference on October 28-29, 2009, part of an ongoing Justice Department initiative to increase engagement, coordination and action on tribal justice in Indian Country.

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/September/09-aag-1007.html

Durand Tyland Bear Medicine Sentenced In U.S. District Court (U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana)
Bill Mercer, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, Mont., on Sept. 21, 2009, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, Durand Tyland Bear Medicine, a 29-year-old resident of Browning was sentenced to a term of three years probation and ordered to pay $4,200 in restitution.  He was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to theft from an Indian tribal organization.  Between Jan. 7, 2008, and May 5, 2008, 46 fraudulent checks totaling $62,270 were written off the accounts of the Blackfeet Tribal Credit Department, an agency of the Blackfeet Tribe tasked with providing short-term loans – to a maximum of $1,500 – to qualifying tribal members.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mt/pressreleases/last20.html

Washington Man Sentenced For Drug Crime (U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho)
Mark Phillips, 43, of Moses Lake, Wash., was sentenced on Sept. 17, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to 52 months in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.  Phillips was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, who also ordered Phillips to serve seven years of supervised release after he completes his prison term.  During that release, Phillips will be closely monitored by the U.S. Probation Office.  In addition to being a law-abiding citizen, Phillips will be required to submit to a search of his home, car and residence upon the demand of a probation officer, and will be randomly drug tested.  Phillips pled guilty to the charge in May 2009.                                 

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/id/public_info/pr09/sept/phillips09212009.html

Harold Dean Dupree Sentenced in U.S. District Court (U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana)
Bill Mercer, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on September 18, 2009, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, Harold Dean Dupree, a 54-year-old resident of Wolf Point, appeared for sentencing.  Dupree was sentenced to a term of 160 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $3,950 in restitution.  Dupree was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to voluntary manslaughter.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mt/pressreleases/20090918120228.html

Northern Ariz. Man Sentenced to Over 4 Years in Prison for Aggravated Assault (U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona)

Christopher Ray Elliot, 28, of Bacavi, Ariz., was sentenced on Sept. 16, by U.S. District Judge Earl H. Carroll to 51 months in federal prison.  The prison term will be followed by a 6-month placement in an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation program while on three years supervised release. Elliot pleaded guilty on June 16, 2009, to Assault with a Deadly Weapon.  On Feb. 23, 2009, Elliot assaulted the victim with a pool stick during an alcohol related argument.  The incident occurred in Kykotsmovi, Ariz. on the Hopi Indian Reservation.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/az/press_releases/2009/2009-300(Elliott).pdf

Judge Sentences Redds to Probation for Felony Convictions in Utah Artifacts Case (U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah)

On Sept. 16, a federal judge sentenced Jeanne Redd, age 59, and her daughter, Jericca Redd, age 37, both of Blanding, Utah, to terms of probation for their felony convictions as a part of a large artifacts case being prosecuted in Utah.  The judge also ordered the Redds to forfeit 812 artifacts as a part of the resolution of their cases.  Jeanne Redd will serve 36 months of probation and pay a $2,000 fine.  Her daughter, Jericca, will serve 24 months of probation.  Both are prohibited from being on tribal or lands managed by federal agencies while they are on probation and they must refrain from any involvement in the purchase, sale, or exchange of artifacts.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ut/press/releases/Redd%20sentencing%20release.pdf

James Rees Eder Pleads Guilty In U.S. Federal Court (U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana)
Bill Mercer, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls on Sept. 15, 2009, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Strong, James Rees Eder, a resident of Poplar, Mont., pleaded guilty to burglary.  Sentencing is set for Dec. 14, 2009.  He is currently released on special conditions.  Eder is an enrolled member of the Sioux Indian Tribe and resides on the Fork Peck Indian Reservation.  He faces possible penalties of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mt/pressreleases/20090915151519.html

Arizona Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Armed Robbery (U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona)
Jerad Chee, 18, of Ganado, Ariz., was sentenced on Sept. 14, to 37 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake.  In May 2009, Jerad Chee pleaded guilty to Armed Robbery.  On Feb. 1, 2009, Chee and his co-defendant and brother, Jerrison Chee, 26, robbed a gas station and convenience store in Ganado at gunpoint.  The brothers entered the store with bandanas covering their faces.  Jerrison Chee brandished a .22 caliber revolver and demanded money from the victim store clerk, while Jerad Chee, in possession of a BB gun, stood guard at the door.  The pair fled the store with cash that was taken from the victim store clerk during the robbery.  Jerrison Chee also pleaded guilty to Armed Robbery and was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake on August 10, 2009.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/az/press_releases/2009/2009-295(Chee%20et%20al).pdf

Northern Ariz. Man Sentenced to 7 ½ Years in Prison for Voluntary Manslaughter (U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona)

Vincent Abel Selina, 28, of Kykotsmovi, Ariz., was sentenced on Sept. 14, by U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Martone to 92 months in federal prison.  Selina pleaded guilty on May 21, 2009, to voluntary manslaughter based on an incident on the Hopi Indian Reservation.  After an extended alcohol fueled argument on Dec. 28, 2008, Selina assaulted and killed his step-father with a piece of firewood.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/az/press_releases/2009/2009-294(Selina).pdf

Arizona Woman Pleads Guilty to Over $100,000 in Thefts From Tribe and Elderly Tribal Member (U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona)

A Fountain Hills, Ariz., woman has admitted to stealing from both the local tribal government that employed her and, later from an elderly woman who was availing herself of tribal social services.  Monica Thompson, 42, said that between November 2005 and December 2006, while employed by the Salt River-Maricopa Indian Community as manager of the Temporary Aid to Needy Families program, she stole more than $87,000 from the tribe. Thompson admitted doing so by submitting approximately 36 fraudulent invoices requesting payments for goods and services purportedly purchased by the tribe.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/az/press_releases/2009/2009-294(Selina).pdf

Northern Arizona Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possession With Intent to Distribute Meth (U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona)

Arnie Tsosie, 38, of Low Mountain, Ariz., was sentenced on Sept. 14 by U.S. District Judge Earl H. Carroll to 34 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.  On June 30, 2009, Tsosie pleaded guilty in federal court to that charge.  Because Tsosie was on supervised release at the time that he committed the drug offense, Judge Carroll also sentenced him to a five month concurrent prison sentence for that offense.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/az/press_releases/2009/2009-291(Tsosie).pdf                            

Vaughn Thomas Shoulder Blade Sentenced In U.S. District Court (U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana)
Bill Mercer, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on Sept. 11, 2009, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, Vaughn Thomas Shoulder Blade, a 40-year-old resident of Lame Deer, appeared for sentencing.  Shoulder Blade was sentenced to a term of 14 months in prison and three years of supervised release.  He was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to domestic assault by a habitual offender.  On Nov. 19, 2008, the victim, Shoulder Blade’s wife, reported to the Colstrip Police Department that she had been assaulted by her husband the night before at their residence on the south side of Lame Deer, which is within the exterior boundaries of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.  She stated that she had been hit with the buckle end of her husband’s belt, hit with a closed fist, and knocked unconscious.  She suffered numerous bruises and abrasions as a result of the assault.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mt/pressreleases/20090914085359.html

Two Oklahoma Men Sentenced for Burglary on Indian Land (U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma)
Sheldon J. Sperling, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced today that Victor Lee Sevenstar, age 22, of Stilwell, Okla., and Isaac Sevenstar, aka, Isaac L. Byrd, of Muldrow, Okla., were both sentenced in federal court today.  Victor Sevenstar was sentenced to 51 months in prison, followed by 24 months of supervised release.   Isaac Sevenstar was sentenced to 63 months in prison, followed by 24 months of supervised release.  On Oct. 27, 2007, the defendants broke into a residence located in the Bell community near Stilwell in Adair County.  The burglarized home was situated on restricted Indian land.  After the home was broken into and entered, various items – including appliances and furnishings – were stolen. The house was then burned to the ground.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/oke/press.html