Pine Ridge Woman Pleads Guilty to Misprision of a Felony
| U.S. Attorney’s Office July 20, 2011 |
United States Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that Elizabeth Red Owl, age 27, of Pine Ridge, appeared before United States District Judge Jeffrey L. Viken on July 15, 2011, and pled guilty to a superseding information that charged her with misprision of a felony. The maximum penalty upon conviction is three years of imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine.
The charge relates to Red Owl giving false statements about an incident involving her daughter on October 31, 2010, at Pine Ridge, to an investigator from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Her 5-month-old daughter was injured when another female threw a hammer at Red Owl and hit the infant in the head. She did not want the other female to get in trouble, so told law enforcement that a group of men dressed in black hit her daughter in the head with a hammer. The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Britt M. Haxton.
A presentence investigation was ordered, and a sentencing date was set for October 17, 2011. The defendant was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal pending sentencing.