Former tribal officer guilty of stealing drugs from evidence

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – A former Fort Peck tribal police officer has pleaded guilty to stealing drugs and money from the tribe’s drug investigations office, compromising more than two dozen criminal cases.

The Great Falls Tribune reports 33-year-old Mikkel Derrick Shields entered his plea Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Brian Morris in Great Falls. Sentencing on the burglary charge is set for June 14.

Court records say Shields was working for the Fort Peck Tribal Police in September 2017 when he broke into the Fort Peck Tribal Law and Justice Building and used a crowbar to get into the drug investigations office where he took opiates, methamphetamine and cash. The break-in was captured on surveillance video.

Federal prosecutors say as a result of Shields’ actions, the tribe was forced to dismiss 27 criminal cases.