Eight Arrested on Menominee Indian Reservation Face Drug Charges

On August 20, 2009, Richard K. Ruminski, Special Agent in Charge of the Milwaukee office of the FBI and Mark Waukau, Sr., Chief of the Menominee Indian Tribal Police announced the arrest of eight co-conspirators on federal drug distribution charges. Richard A. Dodge, 22, Roberta R. James, 50, Elissa R. Peters, 22, Joseph L. Sanapaw, Jr., 46, Joseph L. Sanapaw III, 29, Richard Schreiber, 40, Jeffrey L. Silas, 24 and Raymond A. Tourtillott, 29 were arrested on the Menominee Indian Reservation for violation of Title 21 U.S.C. 841, Distribution of a Controlled Substance.

The arrests were the result of a joint investigation by the FBI’s Menominee Indian Reservation Safe Trails Task Force and the Native American Drug and Gang Initiative (NADGI). NADGI is a partnership between the various Tribal Nations and the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI). NADGI promotes local departments to work as a team with state and federal law enforcement agencies to combat drug, gun, and gang crimes on Wisconsin’s Native American Reservations. Law enforcement officials from the FBI, Menominee Indian Tribal Police, Menominee County Sheriff’s Department, Shawano County Sheriff’s Office, Oneida Police Department, and the DCI participated in the investigation leading to the eight arrests.

The public is reminded individuals placed under arrest are presumed innocent until proven guilty.