Lyndreth Wall, a Towaoc community fixture who is accused of decadeslong sexual abuse of women and a child, is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 27 in U.S. District Court in Durango.
Under the Major Crimes Act, Wall faces 20 felony charges, according to an upgraded indictment filed in April with the district court by Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Player. They include eight counts of sexual abuse – each carrying potential life sentences – and 12 counts of abusive sexual contact, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Lyndreth Wall, a Towaoc community fixture accused of decades-long sexual abuse of women and a child, is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 27 in U.S. District Court in Durango.
Court documents cite sexual acts that were non-consensual and involved five females, some of whom were incapacitated, coerced or manipulated into thinking it was spiritual healing. One was allegedly a girl between age 12 and 15.
Wall has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
A final status conference to review jury instructions is scheduled for Oct. 21 at a federal courtroom in Grand Junction. The trial is expected to last 10 days in the Durango federal court before U.S. District Judge James Candelaria. Jury selection begins in Courtroom 150 at 8 a.m. on Oct. 27.
Wall’s indictment in January 2024 drew considerable attention because it involved a political leader accused of long-term abuse against women who, prosecutors say, trusted him as a community figure in Cortez and Towaoc and a traditional medicine practitioner.
According to the indictment, prosecutors believe the abuse took place in Wall’s home, in a car, at his father’s home or a trailer in Towaoc.
The Major Crimes Act is a federal law that places U.S. government jurisdiction over serious offenses that are alleged on Native land when the person accused is Native American. That is why federal prosecutors are handling Wall’s case, which was also investigated by the FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs, and not tribal courts. Included in the 1885 law are specific offenses, such as manslaughter, kidnapping, murder, sexual-abuse felonies and child abuse, arson, burglary, and among others, according to the Act.
The Journal covered the Ute Mountain Ute Council’s special meeting and public response in the days after the initial indictment. Wall was serving as a member of the Tribal Council – he had begun his third term after being sworn in November 2023 – when the federal government filed the charges. He previously served on the Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 School Board.
Initially, prosecutors pursued 12 sex-abuse felonies related to four women. New court documents show the charges were updated or replaced as the investigation by FBI agents and the Bureau of Indian Affairs progressed.
The council suspended Wall’s duties shortly after the charges in 2024 and offered him the choice to resign or take an unpaid leave indefinitely.
They removed his committee titles and board responsibilities and issued a formal reprimand. Under the tribe’s constitution, leaders may be removed by a two-thirds vote, according to previous Journal reporting. If convicted, Wall would be permanently ineligible to hold a position of leadership.
In a news release in January 2024, tribal leaders stated: “The Tribal Council offers its prayers to the victims alleged in the indictment and asks the community to unite and support each other as the case against Council Member Wall winds its way through the justice system.”
The abuse allegedly took place between 1997 and 2017, but it is unclear when the police investigation began. The 2024 indictment stated all the women considered Wall to be a healer within a prominent “social group.”
