Blackfeet Youth Project Defendants Seek Delay

HELENA — Five people charged with embezzling from a $9.3 million federal program for troubled Blackfeet Indian youth are asking a judge to push back their Jan. 13 trial date.

Attorneys for Francis Onstad, Delyle “Shanny” Augare, Gary Conti, Dorothy Still Smoking and Katheryn Sherman filed a joint motion Thursday seeking the delay because of the volume of evidence.

The court filing says the defense attorneys must review 3,000 pages of documents federal prosecutors have turned over, along with 45 additional boxes of documents related to the Po’Ka project for troubled youth.

They are asking U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen to delay the trial by at least 30 days.

The defendants face a total or 37 criminal counts related to the now-defunct program for troubled youth. They have pleaded not guilty.

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