26 August 2024
MINNEAPOLIS — Five members of Red Lake Nation have been sentenced to prison for abusing a child who they were supervising through a foster care placement.
According to court documents, between Jan. 1, 2021, and April 29, 2022, 50-year-old Trina Mae Johnson directed the torture, endangerment, neglect and abuse of a child who was in her legal custody through a foster care placement.
Johnson was aided and abetted by 43-year-old Bertram Calvin Lussier Jr. and Johnson’s three sisters, 46-year-old Bobbi Jo Johnson (Kingbird), 48-year-old Ellie Mae Johnson, and 40-year-old Patricia Ann Johnson.
All of the accomplices “regularly assumed responsibility for all or a portion of the care and supervision of the minor victim,” according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The abuse included withholding food from the child to the point of starvation, forcing the child to stand in uncomfortable positions for long periods and assaulting the child in various ways, the release said.
“As a result of Johnson’s and her accomplices’ abuse, the victim suffered serious and substantial physical, mental and emotional harm,” the release continued.
In February, Trina Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of child torture, one count of child neglect/deprivation of food and health care, one count of child endangerment and one count of assault on a minor with a dangerous weapon.
She was sentenced on Thursday in U.S. District Court to 216 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.
In April, Bobbi Jo Johnson was convicted by a federal jury on one count of child neglect — deprivation of food and health care, and one count of child endangerment.
She was sentenced on Thursday to 72 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Ellie Johnson, Patricia Johnson and Lussier each pleaded guilty to one count of child endangerment.
Ellie Johnson has been sentenced to 48 months and three years of supervised release, and Patricia Johnson has been sentenced to 48 months and three years of supervised release. Lussier has been sentenced to 24 months and two years of supervised release.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Red Lake Tribal Police Department, with support from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Beltrami County Sherriff’s Office, the Bemidji Police Department and the Blackduck Police Department.
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