A federal judge went to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on Tuesday to hold first appearances for 10 people who have been charged in a drug trafficking case.

Magistrate Judge Charles Miller held the hearings at Fort Yates, on the North Dakota portion of the reservation. His visit was a sign of the coordination between the tribe and federal authorities in two states.

"It shows that we’re all working together to try to improve public safety in Indian Country," Timothy Purdon, the U.S. Attorney for North Dakota, told The Bismarck Tribune. release.

Of the 17 people who were charged as a result of Operation Prairie Thunder, 10 are being prosecuted in federal court in North Dakota, five people are being prosecuted in Standing Rock court and two people are being prosecuted in federal court in South Dakota.

Get the Story:
FBI and BIA arrest 17 in 14-month investigation on Standing Rock (The Bismarck Tribune 6/6)

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Standing Rock Sioux drug charges being handled in three courts (6/5)