The Northern Ute Tribe of Utah fired its chief judge in January after he was on the job for a little over a year.

Larry Kee Yazzie said he was removed because tribal leaders were upset with a sentence he imposed on a criminal defendant. The man spent almost a year in jail but that apparently wasn't long enough.

"The chairman said, 'The reason why we're letting you go is because we feel that your sentences are too light,'" Yazzie, who has filed a breach of contract suit against the tribe, told The Deseret News. "I knew which case they were talking about … They wanted me to punish (the defendant) and throw the key away."

The Indian Civil Rights Act limits tribal court sentences to one year.

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Former judge sues Ute Tribe (The Salt Lake City Deseret News 4/21)