FORMER WIND RIVER TRIBAL JUDGE GETS PRISON IN DRUG CASE

CASPER -- A former tribal court judge has been sentenced to more than
five years in prison for her involvement in a drug ring on the Wind
River Indian Reservation.

Lynda Noah, formerly known as Lynda Munnell, pleaded guilty in March
to threatening a federal agent and to being part of a conspiracy to
distribute prescription drugs and methamphetamine on the reservation.

U.S. District Judge William Downes sentenced her Wednesday to 63
months in a federal prison, followed by five years of supervised
release. He also recommended that she participate in a drug treatment
program while in prison, according to court documents.

Noah was one of more than 20 people charged with participating in a
drug ring that distributed methamphetamine and other drugs from
Mexico to the Wind River and other Indian reservations in South
Dakota and Nebraska. Police made their first arrests in the case on
May 27, 2005. Noah was a sitting judge at the time of her arrest. A
sister and brother-in-law of Noah's were also arrested. Most of those
arrested in case have accepted plea agreements.

Investigators announced another drug bust with ties to the Wind River
reservation in late May of this year. In that case, federal agents
and local law enforcement officers arrested 43 people and seized more
than 20 pounds of meth, more than $100,000 in cash and about 20 guns.

Wind River, in central Wyoming, is shared by the Northern Arapaho and
the Eastern Shoshone tribes. Noah is an Arapaho tribal member and was
nominated to the court by her tribe.