District of Montana

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

VANESSA ANTOINETTE STEWART PLEADS GUILTY IN U.S. FEDERAL COURT

Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Billings on August 13, 2008, before Senior U.S. District Judge Jack D. Shanstrom, VANESSA ANTOINETTE STEWART, a 33-year-old resident of Crow Agency, pled guilty to making false statements to law enforcement. Sentencing is set for November 19, 2008. She is currently released on special conditions.

In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On February 20, 2008, STEWART filed a police report with the Crow Agency Police Department stating that F.L. had unsuccessfully attempted to rape her on February 19, 2008. An officer documented the information in a police report but did not further investigate due to the circumstances.

After the incident, STEWART was confronted by her boyfriend about a hickey on her neck. STEWART stated that F.L. attempted unsuccessfully to rape her. She later told her mother that in fact she had been raped, and her mother told her to report it to the police.

On February 26, 2008, STEWART requested to speak to an officer and informed him that she had in fact been raped on February 19, 2008 by F.L.

On February 27, 2008, STEWART was interviewed and again stated that she had been raped by F.L., but was not truthful initially because she was afraid of how her boyfriend would react. She also provided a handwritten statement at that time stating such.

A subsequent interview was conducted on March 4, 2008, by special agents with the BIA and FBI, wherein STEWART stated she had not had any contact or even seen F.L. since the alleged incident.

After agents interviewed F.L., it was learned that STEWART and F.L. had met secretly on four separate occasions to have sex. She had also made three telephone calls to F.L. on March 7, 2008.

Finally, on March 12, 2008, STEWART admitted that she had consensual sex with F.L. and knowingly lied to the federal agents because she was afraid of her boyfriend.

STEWART faces possible penalties of 8 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper Suek prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.