HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Four people who are objecting to a $3.4 billion settlement over misspent Native American land royalties have received angry calls and letters after plaintiffs’ attorneys published their phone numbers and addresses.
The attorneys have spent nearly 16 years suing the U.S. government and the objections are the latest obstacle to closing the case. The attorneys on Jan. 20 sent an open letter to the approximately 500,000 settlement beneficiaries with the four objectors’ contact information if they “want to ask them directly about their motives.”
One of the objectors, Carol Eve Good Bear, says she has gotten at least 15 phone calls over the last week. She says she feels threatened and intimidated, but does not plan to drop her appeal.
The first appeal is scheduled to be heard Feb. 16.