Bears sentenced in federal court
Tim Leeds
Four Hi-Line women were sentenced in federal court in Great Falls on methamphetamine charges. 
Amber Marie Bear, 38, Dayna Jean Bear, 37, and Mamie Jean Bear, 57, all of Harlem, and Wallene Mary Bear of Havre, 50, were sentenced by Judge Sam E. Haddon. All had previously pleaded guilty to the charges against them. 
Mamie Bear pleaded guilty to possessing meth with the intent to distribute. The others each pleaded guilty to that charge and to a charge of conspiracy to possess meth with the intent to distribute. 
Amber Bear was sentenced to 45 months in prison and was ordered to pay a $200 special assessment and to serve four years of supervised release.
Dayna Jean Bear was sentenced to 77 months in prison and was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment and to serve eight years of supervised release. 
Dayna Bear is the mother of John “A. J.” LongSoldier, who died at Northern Montana Hospital after being transported there while an inmate at the Hill County Detention Center. 
Wallene Bear was sentenced to 120 months in prison and was ordered to pay a $200 special assessment and to serve eight years of supervised release. 
The charges were filed after an investigation that began on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. 
Amber Bear and Wallene Bear and men who were passengers in Amber Bear’s car were arrested and detained at the Fort Belknap Police Department in the early morning hours of Sept. 5, 2009, after Amber Bear ran a stop sign. A search of her car, for which she gave permission to the officers, led to the discovery of drug paraphernalia. 
Using a surveillance camera, a female officer observed Amber Bear reaching into Wallene Bear‘s bra and removing something. A search of the four suspects led to the discovery of nine plastic bags containing a white powdery substance in the women’s body cavities and three plastic tubes containing suspected meth residue in Wallene Bear’s purse. 
Later that day law enforcement officers searched the house of Mamie Bear, Amber Bear’s mother. Amber Bear told officers that drugs and drug-related evidence were in that residence. 
The officers found about 5 grams of meth and marijuana pipes, marijuana and marijuana seeds, needles, crushed pharmaceuticals, cash, a spoon and a knife with drug residue, and other evidence of drug use and trafficking. 
That evening, law enforcement and social services officials were called to a domestic disturbance and neglect report at the public housing home of Dayna Bear. She was taken into custody for domestic assault and social services were then called to take care of her minor children. Law enforcement had obtained Bear’s consent to search the premises. While a social worker was checking the home for other children, she discovered prescription drugs and baggies containing suspected methamphetamine.
The three women told law enforcement officers that their main supplier of meth was Wallene Bear, who they said had been bringing meth to Fort Belknap from Seattle once or twice a month after she was released from federal prison in 2008. Wallene Bear used Dayna, Amber and Mamie Bear as her subdistributors and all shared in the proceeds, they said.

Four Hi-Line women were sentenced in federal court in Great Falls on methamphetamine charges. 

Amber Marie Bear, 38, Dayna Jean Bear, 37, and Mamie Jean Bear, 57, all of Harlem, and Wallene Mary Bear of Havre, 50, were sentenced by Judge Sam E. Haddon. All had previously pleaded guilty to the charges against them. 

Mamie Bear pleaded guilty to possessing meth with the intent to distribute. The others each pleaded guilty to that charge and to a charge of conspiracy to possess meth with the intent to distribute. 

Amber Bear was sentenced to 45 months in prison and was ordered to pay a $200 special assessment and to serve four years of supervised release.

Dayna Jean Bear was sentenced to 77 months in prison and was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment and to serve eight years of supervised release. 

Dayna Bear is the mother of John “A. J.” LongSoldier, who died at Northern Montana Hospital after being transported there while an inmate at the Hill County Detention Center. 

Wallene Bear was sentenced to 120 months in prison and was ordered to pay a $200 special assessment and to serve eight years of supervised release. 

The charges were filed after an investigation that began on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. 

Amber Bear and Wallene Bear and men who were passengers in Amber Bear’s car were arrested and detained at the Fort Belknap Police Department in the early morning hours of Sept. 5, 2009, after Amber Bear ran a stop sign. A search of her car, for which she gave permission to the officers, led to the discovery of drug paraphernalia. 

Using a surveillance camera, a female officer observed Amber Bear reaching into Wallene Bear‘s bra and removing something. A search of the four suspects led to the discovery of nine plastic bags containing a white powdery substance in the women’s body cavities and three plastic tubes containing suspected meth residue in Wallene Bear’s purse. 

Later that day law enforcement officers searched the house of Mamie Bear, Amber Bear’s mother. Amber Bear told officers that drugs and drug-related evidence were in that residence. 

The officers found about 5 grams of meth and marijuana pipes, marijuana and marijuana seeds, needles, crushed pharmaceuticals, cash, a spoon and a knife with drug residue, and other evidence of drug use and trafficking. 

That evening, law enforcement and social services officials were called to a domestic disturbance and neglect report at the public housing home of Dayna Bear. She was taken into custody for domestic assault and social services were then called to take care of her minor children. Law enforcement had obtained Bear’s consent to search the premises. While a social worker was checking the home for other children, she discovered prescription drugs and baggies containing suspected methamphetamine.

The three women told law enforcement officers that their main supplier of meth was Wallene Bear, who they said had been bringing meth to Fort Belknap from Seattle once or twice a month after she was released from federal prison in 2008. Wallene Bear used Dayna, Amber and Mamie Bear as her subdistributors and all shared in the proceeds, they said.