Otis Taylor Yellow Mule Pleads Guilty in U.S. Federal Court

March 24, 2010 - The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings on March 23, 2010, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, OTIS TAYLOR YELLOW MULE, a 23-year-old resident of Wyola, pled guilty to robbery. Sentencing has been set for June 25, 2010.He is currently detained.

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:

During the afternoon of December 12, 2009, YELLOW MULE and P.B., knocked on the door of the victim’s house in Wyola, which is within the boundaries of the Crow Indian Reservation, wanting to come inside. The victim refused to let them into her house, so YELLOW MULE sprayed the victim with pepper spray while P.B. pushed her way into the victim’s house. The victim fled out the back door of her house and ran to the home of a neighbor.

YELLOW MULE and P.B. stole the victim’s purse and a box containing prescription medications. They then drove away from the victim’s house, past the neighbor’s house, and yelled obscenities as they drove by.

YELLOW MULE and P.B. were arrested that same day by Bureau of Indian Affairs police. The police recovered a pepper spray canister .Items belonging to the victim were subsequently recovered from the home of P.B.’s mother, where YELLOW MULE and P.B. stopped immediately after the robbery. Finally, ATM transaction records and witnesses confirmed that YELLOW MULE attempted to use the victim’s debit card to withdraw cash from her bank account at a gas station in Lodge Grass shortly after the robbery. The debit card was found in the car that YELLOW MULE and P.B. were driving prior to their arrest.

YELLOW MULE faces possible penalties of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.