TGB Statement on Banishment of Suspected Drug Trafficker

LCO Tribal Governing Board

Press Release

The Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board took action following another overdose death of a young man on the Reservation by unanimously voting in support of using the Removal Ordinance to banish a 48-year-old resident and suspected drug trafficker, Keith Stevens, from entering the boundaries of the Tribe. Stevens is a Lac du Flambeau Tribal Member.

We want the community to know that we will not tolerate these activities any longer on the Reservation and are looking into taking additional action against other non-Tribal Member drug traffickers in our community.

Members are encouraged to call the LCO Police Department at 715-634-8350 or 911 after hours if you see Keith Stevens anywhere within the boundaries of the LCO Reservation. We want all of our members to know that you may face consequences if you harbor Stevens in your home. If you are in a housing unit, you may face eviction. He is not allowed in any business or office building within the Reservation.

Resolution No. 84-2021 passed by the full TGB states, “the Tribal Governing Board finds that Keith A. Stevens is a threat to the law and order on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation and it is best interest of the Tribe to exclude him from the Reservation.”

The Resolution authorized the LCO Police Department to enforce the banishment authority and apprehend, take into custody, and remove Stevens from the Reservation, which they did on Wednesday, September 8, by apprehending him at the residence on Agency Road in Reserve. The LCO Police then took Stevens and escorted him to the Reservation Boundary.

The Resolution also states that Stevens has been permanently banned unless the order is revoked by official action of the TGB.

The Removal Ordinance (Banishment) was passed by the TGB in February of this year. It states “To provide a procedure for excluding and removing nonmembers from the Reservation when it is in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of the Band, or its members, to do so, including the exclusion and removal of nonmembers who act in disregard of tribal or other applicable law, destroy tribal fish and game, trespass upon tribal trust property, pollute tribal lands and waters, destroy real or personal property of the Band, its members or Reservation residents, or endanger or harm the natural, social, psychological or physical well-being of members or other persons on the Reservation.”

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