Bullhead Woman Sentenced on Tampering with Witness Charge

U.S. Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Bullhead woman has been sentenced to 12 months and one day in custody and two years of supervised release.

Lucille Little Eagle, age 23, was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 11, 2011. Little Eagle was charged with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and one count of tampering with a witness. She pled guilty to tampering with a witness on August 31, 2011.

The conviction was the result of an incident that occurred between April 24 and June 22, 2010 at Bullhead. At that time and place, Lucille Little Eagle did knowingly corruptly persuade or attempt to corruptly persuade several witnesses who were present for an April 24 street fight in Bullhead and their supporters to tell law enforcement officers false accounts of the events of the street fight. Lucille Little Eagle did this by writing a false scenario of the real events and showing it to the witnesses and advising them to tell law enforcement officers this false scenario. Lucille Little Eagle did this with the intent to hinder, delay, and prevent those witnesses from communicating to a law enforcement officer information relating to the possible commission of federal crimes on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Standing Rock Agency. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mikal Hanson.

The defendant is being allowed to self report to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service in Pierre on June 5, 2012 at 2:00 p.m.