MOONEY HEARING

James and Linda Mooney, the Spanish Fork couple arrested on a combined 16
federal felony drug charges for using peyote in religious ceremonies,
pleaded not guilty to all of the charges Friday in Salt Lake City.

Federal prosecutors told U.S. Magistrate Judge Sam Alba that the Mooneys
should be held without bail until the case is resolved. Citing the
complexity of the case and the need for more information before deciding if
the Mooneys should be held without bail, Alba set a detention hearing for
Tuesday.

Veda Travis, prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City,
said releasing the Mooneys on bail would pose an unacceptable risk.

"It is our position that the defendants are a danger to the community, a
danger of flight and that they would attempt to obstruct justice in this
case," Travis said.

Federal guidelines allow defendants to be held without bail if the maximum
penalty for their alleged crime is more than 10 years in prison. Each of
the charges against the Mooneys carries a maximum prison term of 20 years
and a maximum fine of $1,000,000.

The Mooneys were each appointed a public defender and Alba ordered that
prosecutors provide the defense attorneys with the evidence -- which Travis
told Alba was "voluminous" -- by July 1.

Alba said that because the case was unusually complex, he would wait to
schedule the two-week trial until he knew more about the case. He said U.S.
District Judge Ted Stewart would hear the case.

After the hearing, both friends and foes of the Mooneys spoke to the media
on the courthouse steps.

Jareth McCarey, a member of Oklevueha EarthWalks Native American Church,
which the Mooneys founded in 1997, said membership in a Native American
Church should not hinge on ancestry.

"This is a way of life," he said. "This is not about race."

Eileen Quintana, who lives near the Mooneys in Spanish Fork and said she's
a member of the Denai Navajo Tribe, said Mooney was a fraud whose "fake"
ceremonies undermined legitimate traditional worship.

"Peyote was something that was given to our people," she said. "We look at
our peyote and we look at our ceremonies in a very holy way. My people have
to hold on to these teachings that are handed down to us."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Lambert said federal law regarding peyote
use is clear and that the Mooneys had broken it.

"They used or distributed peyote to people who were not Native Americans
and not members of the Native American Church," he said. "Basically, they
were drug dealers."

Peyote, a small, woolly cactus with hallucinogenic properties, has been
classified by Congress as a Schedule I controlled substance. According to
the U.S. Code, its use is illegal except by "Indians" as part of a "bona
fide" religious ceremony for a Native American Church.

Prosecutors say the Mooneys are not "Indians" according to the federal
definition because they are not members of a federally recognized tribe.
The Mooneys contend that no tribal affiliation should be necessary to
participate in American Indian religious ceremonies.

The Mooneys were arrested by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents
Thursday morning following an indictment filed on June 15 but sealed until
Thursday. They are charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute
peyote, with possession and distribution of peyote and other related
charges. An Ogden man, Nicholas Stark, was also charged in the indictment
with two felony drug charges relating to peyote use and one misdemeanor
charge for possession of coca leaves. Stark was not present at the
arraignment Friday.

James and Linda Mooney were arrested and prosecuted by the Utah County
Attorney's Office in 2000 and were later exonerated by the Utah Supreme
Court in June of 2004. The court ruled the Mooneys could not be prosecuted
for distributing peyote to non-American Indians as part of a legitimate
religious ceremony. Federal courts, however, are not bound by state courts'
decisions.