FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AG
THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1996                           (202) 616-2777
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

        PAROLE COMMISSION DENIES PAROLE TO LEONARD PELTIER


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The United States Parole Commission has
denied parole for Leonard Peltier, who is serving two consecutive
life sentences for killing two FBI agents in 1975, the Department
of Justice announced today.   The Commission initially denied
Peltier parole in 1993.
     The Commission ordered no change in the 1993 decision
following a December 1995 review hearing which resulted in a 
hearing examiner's recommendation that Peltier should not be
granted a parole.  Although the hearing examiner also recommended
that the Commission reevaluate Peltier's role in the murders, the
Commission found that there was no new information to justify
altering its earlier conclusion that Peltier had personally
participated in the slaying of the two agents.  The Commission
cited the extreme gravity of the case.
     By law, a federal inmate under the Parole Commission's
jurisdiction is entitled to a review of his or her case every two
years after receiving an initial hearing.
     In issuing its order, the Commission ordered a full
reconsideration hearing in December 2008 for Peltier.  The
Commission's decision was made March 18, but not made public
until today because the Commission's policy is to notify the
inmate before making its decisions public.
     Peltier was convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting
deaths of two FBI Special Agents, Ronald A. Williams and Jack R.
Coler.  They were wounded as they searched for a robbery suspect
on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, then shot
to death at point-blank range.  
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96-127