In a significant legal conclusion on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, five members of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians have been handed prison sentences for their involvement in a tragic case of child abuse and neglect. U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger announced the sentences meted out, underscoring the severity of the offenses.
The principal defendant, Trina Mae Johnson, 50, was accused of orchestrating the prolonged torture and abuse of a child under her care, as detailed by the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota. Details emerge of a nefarious pattern of mistreatment, which court documents reveal included acts as egregious as starvation and physical assault. The child, placed in Johnson's legal custody, was forced to endure substantial harm, both physically and mentally. The distressing findings were the result of investigations led by the FBI in partnership with local law enforcement agencies.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, Trina Mae Johnson received a sentence of 216 months in prison followed by a supervised release spanning five years. This sentencing came after Johnson pled guilty to multiple charges, including one count of child torture and one count of assault on a minor with a dangerous weapon.
Johnson's sisters — Bobbi Jo Johnson, Ellie Mae Johnson, Patricia Ann Johnson — and Bertram Calvin Lussier, Jr., were complicit in the abuse. While Bobbi Jo Johnson was convicted by a federal jury of child neglect and endangerment, her sisters and Lussier each pled guilty to one count of child endangerment. The sentences handed down varied amongst them, with Johnson's sisters receiving 48 months each and Lussier sentenced to serve 24 months, all followed by supervised releases, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ruth S. Shnider and Evan B. Gilead led the prosecution to thoroughly seek to address the crimes committed.
