Ute Mountain Ute “Medicine Man” Sentenced To Life In Prison After Multiple Sex Assault Convictions

DENVER - The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Colorado announces that Lyndreth Hemp Wall, 60, a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted on 15 counts of sexual abuse in Indian Country and abusive sexual contact in Indian Country. Wall's crimes involved five victims, including a minor.

According to the facts established at trial, Wall held himself out as a traditional Native American healer, sometimes referred to as a "medicine man." Wall was elected to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council in 2020 and is a former school board member in Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1. Over the course of at least the past dozen years, Wall sexually exploited multiple women on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation under the guise of spiritual treatment. Wall created an elaborate ruse by using traditional elements of Ute healing to trick his victims into believing his actions were part of a healing ceremony. During his "ceremonies," Wall isolated victims alone and touched them sexually for his own gratification. Wall told multiple victims that, if they told anyone about his sexual touching, the healing would not work.

Over the course of trial, the jury heard from the five women who alleged that Wall had committed sexual abuse in Towaoc, Colorado. The jury returned guilty verdicts for abuse of all five women charged in the indictment. The jury also heard from a sixth woman who alleged Wall had sexually assaulted her in Alamosa and Lone Tree in 2020 and 2021 under a rule of evidence that permits evidence of other sexual assaults.

"Claiming you are a spiritual healer and then using that position of power to sexually abuse people who come to you for help is an abhorrent crime," said United States Attorney Peter McNeilly. "The Department of Justice will work relentlessly to take predators out of our tribal communities and put them behind bars."

"Female tribal members came to this defendant for spiritual healing. They trusted him to help them in the ways of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, of which he was a leader. Instead of helping them, he took advantage of them, a sickening betrayal that has lasting implications for the survivors of his sexual assaults," said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Amanda Koldjeski. "The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate sexual assaults on tribal lands to identify and remove perpetrators like this one, who now faces the consequence of his treachery."

Wall also faces two separate allegations of sexual assault in Colorado state court. The charges in those pending cases are only allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

United States District Judge Gordon P. Gallagher presided over the sentencing.

The FBI Office in Durango, Colorado, handled the investigation, with assistance from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Towaoc, Colorado.

Assistant United States Attorneys R. Josh Player and Jeffrey K. Graves handled the prosecution.

Case Number: 1:24-cr-00003-GPG-JMC