The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on March 2, 2011, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, JINNY FAITH YELLOWMULE, a 25-year-old resident of Crow Agency, appeared for sentencing. YELLOWMULE was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 21 months

Special Assessment: $100

Restitution: $810

Supervised Release: 3 years

YELLOWMULE was sentenced in connection with her guilty plea to burglary/aiding and abetting.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper Suek, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On the morning of February 18, 2010, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) law enforcement received a burglary complaint from St. Dennis Catholic Church. There is a residence on the property occupied by a nun. The officers learned that the nun's residence was burglarized sometime the previous evening and approximately $500 in cash from bingo and three personal checks were stolen.

After investigating at the scene, BIA law enforcement learned that the burglar entered the residence through the northeast basement window - the frame of the window appeared to have been pried open with a tool and a piece of the window frame was lying on the ground outside of the window. There were also some tracks in the snow near the east side of the residence.

After conducting interviews, BIA law enforcement learned that Raymond White went to the nun's house the night before asking the nun for a ride to the casino. She refused to give White a ride and went to bed. White admitted in an interview that he asked the nun for a ride in order to get her out of the house so that YELLOWMULE could get into the residence and steal the money. Both White and YELLOWMULE admit that they planned the burglary, but both claim the other actually broke into the house.

YELLOWMULE'S tennis shoes were found in the house in the basement under a blanket. Also, the day after the burglary, February 19, 2010, YELLOWMULE bonded her boyfriend out of jail using $500 in cash. Also, a police officer saw White driving around the area of the church on the night of the burglary.

White pled guilty to federal charges and has been sentenced.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that YELLOWMULE will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, YELLOWMULE does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

 

 

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