TRIBAL JUSTICE NEWS
JULY 2011

July 28, 2011

Attorney General Holder, Justice Department Officials Hold Listening Conference with Tribal Leaders (Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs)

Attorney General Eric Holder and other administration officials met this week with tribal leaders and advocates to discuss issues of tribal safety and domestic violence in Rapid City, S.D., and Pine Ridge Reservation, S.D. The tribal listening conference coincided with the one year anniversary of President Obama’s signing of the Tribal Law and Order Act into law. Attorney General Holder, Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli, Assistant Attorney General Ignacia Moreno of the Environment and Natural Resources Division, Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs Secretary Larry Echo Hawk, and 30 U.S. Attorneys engaged in various conversations, on topics including combating violence against women, protecting tribal lands, honoring traditional Native American values, and training tribal prosecutors and police forces.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/July/11-ag-982.html

Federal Grants to Provide Assistance for Washington State Crime Victims (U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington)

The Department of Justice announced the award of more than $6 million in grants this week to enhance services for victims of crime and to help protect children in the Western District of Washington. The grants were awarded to the Washington State Crime Victims Fund, the Nooksack Indian Tribe in Deming, Wash., and the Seattle Police Department. The grant to the Seattle Police Department will help fund the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/waw/press/2011/jul/grants.html

East Grand Forks Man Sentenced for Selling Meth (U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota)

U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on July 28, 2011, Mark Fassett of East Grand Forks, Minn., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Ralph R. Erickson on a charge of distribution of a controlled substance. Fassett, 42, pleaded guilty on May 18, 2011, to selling three bags of methamphetamine (total weight .08 grams) to another person on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation on Jan. 26, 2010.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nd/pressreleases/2011/07-28-2011-Fassett%20Sentenced.pdf

Informational: Federal Court Arraignment (U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana)

Allan C. Lawson, 40, and a resident of Browning, Mont., appeared before a court on charges of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and assault with a dangerous weapon on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Great Falls, Mont. If convicted of these charges, Lawson faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura B. Weiss is the prosecutor for the United States.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/mt/pressreleases/20110728140634.html

July 27, 2011

Federal Agencies Teach Leadership Skills, Hear from Students at 2011 Intertribal Youth Summit (Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs)

One hundred and seventy five young men and women from nearly 50 tribal communities across the country convened at the week-long 2011 National Intertribal Youth Summit in Santa Fe, N.M., which ran from July 24 to 28, 2011. The summit featured administration officials from the White House and the Departments of Justice, Interior, Health and Human Services and Education, and it coincides with the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s signing of the Tribal Law and Order Act into law. The summit is a youth leadership conference for tribal youth participants to meet other American Indian and Alaska Native youth through special sessions targeting leadership development and critical youth issues.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/July/11-asg-976.html

Federal Indictment Returned Charging Warm Springs Man with Murder in Second Degree (U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon)

Ted L. Barney, Jr., 23, of Warm Springs, Ore., appeared before U.S. Magistrate Janice M. Stewart on a two count indictment charging him with second degree murder and use of a firearm during a crime of violence. Warm Springs Police Department responded to a report of gunshot fire at a residence on the Warm Springs Reservation. An investigation revealed that Delmer S. Davis had allegedly been shot by Ted L. Barney, Jr. Both Davis and Barney are enrolled members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/or/PressReleases/2011/20110727_Barney.html

Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, White Mountain Apache Tribe Students Picked to Attend National Intertribal Youth Summit (U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona)

U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke announced that six students from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and White Mountain Apache Tribe have been selected to join 150 young men and women from across the country for the week-long 2011 National Intertribal Youth Summit in Sante Fe, N.M., from July 24 to 28, 2011, featuring administration officials from the White House and the Departments of Justice, Interior, Health and Human Services and Education.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/PR_07272011_Intertribal_Youth_Summit.html

July 26, 2011

St. Michael Man Pleads Guilty to Burglary (U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota)

U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on July 26, 2011, Kalum Joshua Yankton, of St. Michael, N.D., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Ralph R. Erickson to charges of burglary of a post office and conspiracy to convert stolen money orders. Yankton, 30, pleaded guilty to breaking into the St. Michael Post Office and stealing money orders with intent to convert them for his own personal use. The incident occurred in May of 2010 on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nd/pressreleases/2011/07-26-2011-Yankton%20Sentenced.pdf

July 25, 2011

Quechan Woman Pleads Guilty to Assault Injuring Passenger in 2009 Yuma Crash (U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona)

Sophia R. Perez, 25, of Yuma, Ariz., and a member of the Quechan Indian Tribe on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, pleaded guilty on July 22, 2011, in federal court to Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury. Perez was speeding and failed to navigate a curve in an SUV, driving off the road and plummeting more than 25 yards down to train tracks beneath the Ocean-to-Ocean bridge, injuring her four passengers. Perez’s blood alcohol concentration at the time was .203 and her Arizona driver’s license had been suspended.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/PR_07252011_Perez.html

Bottineau Man Sentenced for Assault on a Federal Officer (U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota)

U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on July 25, 2011, Christopher A. Faulk, Jr., 30, of Bottineau, N.D., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Daniel L. Hovland on a charge of assaulting and resisting a federal officer. Faulk must also pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victim’s Fund. On Nov. 18, 2010, a law enforcement officer responded to a dispute involving Faulk on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. While the officer arrested and placed Faulk in the back of a patrol vehicle, Faulk resisted and kicked the officer in the leg.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nd/pressreleases/2011/07-25-2011-Faulk%20Sentenced.pdf

Dunseith Man Sentenced for Larceny (U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota)

U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on July 25, 2011, Jordan A. Decoteau, 24, of Dunseith, N.D., was sentenced on a charge of larceny in U.S. District Court. Decoteau was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victim’s Fund. On April 29, 2010, Decoteau stole a 1998 Polaris Explorer ATV from the front yard of a Belcourt residence. Decoteau then traded the ATV to another person for a motor vehicle.

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nd/pressreleases/2011/07-25-2011-Jordan%20Decoteau%20Sentenced.pdf