A Wanblee woman who was driving while intoxicated when a 5-month-old child was killed will serve 36 months in prison.

Jolene Chief Bear, 20, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging her with involuntary manslaughter after the Oct. 22 accident that killed the infant.

According to court documents, Chief Bear was intoxicated and driving too fast for road conditions when the accident occurred. The child was not in a child safety seat.

Upon her release from prison, Chief Bear will spend three years of supervised release.

She was sentenced July 6 by U.S. District Court Chief Justice Karen E. Schreier.

In another case, Schreier has ordered a former Rapid City bookkeeper to pay $49,864.31 in restitution, serve15 months in prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to mail fraud.

Tanya Tennyson, 34, was indicted for bank fraud in April 2007. Additional federal charges of wire fraud and mail fraud were added later.

The bookkeeper's actions were discovered after she left the law firm of Costello, Porter, Hill, Heisterkamp, Bushnell and Carpenter. She admitted using the money to pay credit card debits.

In other court action:

• Justin Bickle, 20, Belle Fourche, was sentenced by Schreier to five years in prison and four years of supervised release for conspiring to distribute a controlled substance. A grand jury indicted Bickle in June 2008 for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and possession with intent to distribute. Bickle pleaded guilty in April of this year. According to court documents, Bickle was part of a group that distributed methamphetamine in South Dakota and elsewhere between August 2007 and June 2008.
• Ruben Survirias-Badillo, aka Fernando Torres Lopes, 37, Denver, was sentenced to 40 months in prison and three years of supervised release for possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute. A grand jury indicted Survirias-Bandillo and a co-defendant in 2007 for cocaine possession and conspiracy. According to the U.S. Attorney, both distributed cocaine in Rapid City. Money from the sale of the cocaine was wired to the co-defendant in Denver.
• Carl Gerald Cortier, 35, Pine Ridge, pleaded guilty to abusive sexual contact with a girl younger than 12. Cortier will be sentenced Sept. 14. He is in the custody of the U.S. Marshal awaiting sentencing.
• A federal grand jury has indicted John Caldwell, aka Jon Caldwell Jr., 21, Pine Ridge for larceny for stealing a car. If convicted, Caldwell faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Caldwell is in the custody of the U.S. Marshal. A trial date has not been set.

Editor's note: The U.S. District Court generally prosecutes felonies committed on reservations, while tribal courts handle misdemeanor crimes. Felonies that happen off the reservation are prosecuted in state/circuit court and are reported separately in the Journal. Some drug and firearms cases are also prosecuted in federal court.

All charges carry the possibility of fines up to $250,000 upon conviction unless otherwise noted.