The Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota failed to use a $157,252 grant aimed at combating methamphetamine, The Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports.

The tribe received the money from the Department of Justice in 2010. It was supposed to be used to hire a meth detective but Chairman Thurman Cournoyer, who was elected in September 2011, said politics got in the way.

"When I got here, the meth program was really in limbo," Cournoyer told the paper. "There was a lot of finger-pointing, and it just kind of didn't go anywhere."

Cournoyer and tribal members say meth is a big problem on the reservation. It's been linked to the death of RieLee Lovell, 2, l in a tribal housing complex last month.

Taylor Cournoyer, 21, and Laurie Cournoyer, 28, are facing possession of meth and other charges in connection with RieLee's death.

Get the Story:
Grant unused by tribe to fight meth (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 8/3)
Yankton tribe hasn't used federal grant to fight meth (AP 8/3)

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