PEYOTE ADVOCATE CHARGED WITH ILLEGAL POSSESSION, DISTRIBUTION

Indictment: He is accused of posing as an American Indian to obtain peyote

A Utah County man, who won a state court ruling that says all members of the
Native American Church regardless of their race can use peyote in religious
ceremonies, has been indicted on federal charges of illegal possession and
distribution of the hallucinogenic cactus.

A grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday accuses James "Flaming Eagle"
Mooney, 61, of Benjamin, founder of the Oklevueha Earthwalks Native American
Church, of misrepresenting himself as an American Indian in a conspiracy to
get peyote.

Also indicted were Mooney's wife, Linda, 51, and church member and
self-styled medicine man Nicholas Stark, 54, of Ogden.

The indictment alleges that James Mooney fraudulently obtained a membership
card for the Oklevueha Band of Yamassee Seminole Indians, a tribe that is
not federally recognized and one that traditionally does not use peyote. In
November 1997, a few months after the Mooneys started the Oklevueha
Earthwalks church, the band terminated its affiliation with James Mooney
because of his activities with the hallucinogens and asked that he stop
using the Oklevueha name, according to the indictment.

However, Mooney allegedly continued to use his card to obtain peyote.

The Mooneys are charged with 13 counts each of conspiracy to possess peyote
with intent to distribute, conspiracy to distribute peyote, distribution of
peyote and possession of peyote with intent to distribute. James Mooney also
faces an additional count of attempted possession of peyote with intent to
distribute. Stark is charged with one count each of distribution of peyote,
possession of peyote with intent to distribute and possession of coca
leaves.

The Mooneys, who were arrested Thursday, have an initial court appearance
today. A summons was issued to Stark.

The indictment was applauded by the presiding elder of the Utah Native
American Church. In a written statement, Jeffrey V. Merkey, who is a member
of the Cherokee Nation, thanked federal prosecutors "for protecting the
rights of Native Americans and Native American communities who have been
preyed upon by frauds and impostors."

Forrest Cuch, executive director of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs,
said his office has received complaints from tribal members about the
Oklevueha Earthwalks church.

The charges are the latest round in a long legal fight over peyote.

Federal authorities argue that only enrolled members of tribes who also are
members of the Native American Church can use peyote. James Mooney, who says
he is part Seminole, contends that all church members have the right to use
the substance.

The dispute started in 2000, when police raided the church in Benjamin and
seized 12,000 peyote buttons. The Mooneys were charged in 4th District Court
with a dozen first-degree felony counts.

After prosecutors refused their request to drop the charges, the two
appealed to the Utah Supreme Court. The justices ruled unanimously last year
that the Mooneys and other church members legally can use the hallucinogenic
cactus under a federal exemption passed in 1970 that is incorporated into
Utah law.

Stark was charged in a separate case in 2nd District Court with felony drug
counts for allegedly possessing 10 pounds of peyote buttons and 5 pounds of
coca leaves seized by police in July 2004. The charges were later dropped
after the Utah Supreme Court issued its ruling in October 2004.