CHEYENNE, WY - On October 6, 2020, Federal District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson sentenced former Wind River Indian Reservation Chief Tribal Court Judge Terri Smith and her sister Jerri Lee Smith on federal drug charges.
Terrie Smith, 35, of Arapahoe, Wyoming, was sentenced for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and distribution of cocaine. She received six months of imprisonment, to be followed by thirty-six months of supervised release, and ordered to pay community restitution in the amount of $500.00 and a $200.00 special assessment.
Jerri Lee Smith, 35, of Salt Lake City, Utah was sentenced for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. She received fifty-one months of imprisonment, to be followed by forty-eight months of supervised release, and ordered to pay community restitution in the amount of $400.00 and a $300.00 special assessment.
Agents with the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation began an investigation into suspected drug activity and trafficking in 2018, after several traffic stops by the Wyoming Highway Patrol led to the discovery of quantities of methamphetamine, oxycodone, and cocaine.
A variety of investigative resources were used to determine that Jerri Smith and Terri Smith had been obtaining oxycodone in Utah and were selling it in Fremont County and on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Additionally the investigation uncovered that Jerri Smith was also obtaining methamphetamine and cocaine in Utah then distributing and selling it in Wyoming.
At the time of the investigation, Terri Smith was the Chief Tribal Judge on the Wind River Indian Reservation. She later resigned from her position.
