Leonard Pelletier, the Native American activist controversially convicted of murdering two FBI agents in 1977, is scheduled to have his first parole hearing in 15 years on Monday.
Pelletier, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, joined the American Indian Movement (AIM) in the 1970s and was one of several demonstrators who visited South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation in 1975, when Richard Wilson was tribal chairman.
AIM’s Wilson critics accused him of being a dictator and a sycophant for the federal government, and tensions on the reservation had already led to the 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973.
On June 26, FBI agents Ronald Arthur Williams and Jack Ross Kohler pursued a truck carrying Pelletier and two of his fellow protesters onto the reservation.
A confrontation broke out between agents, activists, and the ranch families where AIM members were camped, followed by a shootout involving more than 40 people, leaving Williams and Kohler dead.
A third man, AIM activist Joe Stuntz, was killed by a sniper from a Bureau of Indian Affairs agent later that day. Though dozens of people were at the scene of the shootout, only Pelletier and two other AIM protesters were charged, and both were acquitted on the grounds of self-defense in separate trials.
Pelletier was extradited from Canada in 1977 and served two life sentences.
His trial has been marked by contentious prosecution arguments. In particular, supporters of his release point to a prosecution witness, Myrtle Poor Bear, who was Pelletier’s girlfriend at the time of the shooting and testified that she witnessed him kill both agents. Poor Bear later recanted, saying she was coerced by the FBI and did not know Pelletier.
In 1978, a federal appeals court upheld the conviction, but called the use of Poor Bear’s affidavit to extradite Pelletier a “clear abuse of the investigative process.”
Pelletier has maintained his innocence throughout his imprisonment, and his defense team has highlighted his 79-year-old age and numerous health conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure and a partial stroke that left him losing sight in one eye.
Those arguing for his parole or release include Pope Francis, Amnesty International, the late Mother Teresa and Coretta Scott King, and current Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts), Bernie Sanders (Independent, Vermont), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Peter Welch (D-Vermont).
Meanwhile, the FBI has vocally opposed parole or a pardon for Pelletier. In a statement to the parole board in 2009, Thomas J. Harrington, then assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Division, accused Pelletier of a “deliberate and vicious attack” and said that clemency would “demonstrate disregard and disrespect for the entire law enforcement community.”
Current FBI Director Chris Wray wrote a letter in 2022 opposing Pelletier’s petition for commutation, calling him a “remorseless killer.”
Pelletier was denied parole in 2009 after pleading guilty to murder, and then-President Obama denied his clemency petition in 2017, two days before leaving office.
However, despite the FBI’s consistent opposition to his parole, both Judge Gerald Heaney, who presided over Pelletier’s trial, and U.S. Attorney James Reynolds, who prosecuted the case, ultimately sought his release.
Given Pelletier’s age and health, Monday could be his last chance for parole and his final chance at freedom unless President Biden decides to pardon or commute his sentence.
In October, 33 senators, led by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) of the House Natural Resources Committee, called on President Biden to grant clemency.
“We applaud your Administration’s commitment to criminal justice reform and its efforts to address inequities in the criminal justice system and right past wrongs by the U.S. government against Native people,” they wrote. “We urge your Administration to take the next step and grant Mr. Pelletier a pardon or compassionate release.”
