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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Federal prosecutors on Wednesday dropped charges against a husband and wife accused of illegally distributing peyote after they agreed to stay away from the hallucinogenic drug.
James Mooney, 62, and his wife, Linda, 52, leaders of the Oklevueha EarthWalks Native American Church of Utah, had pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of distribution of peyote. They said they used the drug only in American Indian religious services.
The government allows limited use of peyote for ceremonies by members of federally recognized tribes. The tribe in which the Mooneys claimed membership, the Oklevueha Band of Yamassee Seminole Indians, is not federally recognized.
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