A high-ranking Wyoming judge who served prison time for dealing drugs revealed how time in the slammer changed her life.
Terri Smith, 39, was the Wind River Tribal Court head judge when she was busted for distributing oxycodone and cocaine in 2019.
The mother-of-two had been living a double life while serving on the court. She was addicted to drugs and worked with her sister Jerri Lee Smith to obtain pills in Utah then sell them in in Fremont County and on the Wind River Indian Reservation.
Smith pleaded guilty to the federal drug charges and was sentenced to six months in prison and six months supervised release – which ultimately led to her recovery.
‘I was thinking, “I’d rather be here in this jail cell than being an addict out there.” I was a slave to that. I was,’ Smith told Cowboy State Daily.
Terri Smith (pictured), 39, was the Wind River Tribal Court head judge when she was busted for distributing oxycodone and cocaine in 2019
Smith revealed serving time in prison changed her life and ultimately led to her recovery
‘I don’t have to live like this anymore, because prior to me being indicted and held accountable, every single day I woke up like, “Is this going to be me for the rest of my life? Am I going to live this double life to feed my habit?”
‘I saw no way out of it because there was such stigma with addiction.’
Smith was a prominent judge and lawyer, serving on the court and previously working as a private attorney to her tribe, the Northern Arapaho.
However, her battle with addiction began in undergrad at the University of Utah when her longtime boyfriend died of a drug-and-alcohol-related issue six weeks before graduation in 2007.
Smith told the Cowboy State Daily she started taking prescription-strength pain pills to numb the pain.
‘I was never really taught to deal with grief,’ Smith said. ‘(And) natives, we’re not really taught to deal with grief on an everyday level — and we have so much grief, we have so much death and loss.’
As a judge she lived a double life working with her sister to obtain pills in Utah then sell them in in Fremont County and on the Wind River Indian Reservation
After law school, Smith returned to Wind River and started working for the private law firm that represented the Northern Arapaho
Five years later she was asked to serve as an associate judge in what was then an independent Northern Arapaho Court.
She became the chief judge when the Northern Arapaho Court reunited with the Eastern Shoshone Court to form the Wind River Tribal Court.
While her law career was excelling, Smith was secretly working with her twin sister to traffic and distribute drugs.
Law enforcement finally caught up with her in 2018 when the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation began an investigation into her illegal activities.
In March 2019 an FBI agent came to Smith’s office – who was nearly eight months pregnant at the time – and her world came crashing down.
‘It quickly became apparent he was (actually) there for me,’ she said. ‘He had pictures (of drug or money drops). He was asking questions.’
U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson sentenced Smith to six months in prison then six months of ankle-monitor probation at home and three years probation.
Her arrest and prison sentence ultimately came as a relief for Smith who said she used the opportunity to get sober and do better for her kids.
Smith said she got addicted to drugs while dealing with the death of her boyfriend in college
Now Smith works as a peer support specialist on the Wind River Indian Reservation to help other addicts and spends time with her sons, now ages nine and five
‘I get up and I’m thankful for every little thing I have — a bed, a pillow, a shower and just being next to my kids,’ said Smith. ‘I know what it’s like to not have them.’
While on probation Smith got a job as a room cleaner for the local Holiday Inn and earned her first physical labor paycheck.
‘I was so proud of myself when I got it. I never had to do that type of work, and I have so much appreciation for it now,’ she said.
After seeing how she turned her life around, Johnson ended her probation early.
‘All credit goes to Terri. She’s the person who really accomplished everything in her life. Give her 100% of the credit,’ Johnson said.
Now Smith works as a peer support specialist on the Wind River Indian Reservation to help other addicts and spends time with her sons, now ages nine and five.
‘I did the work to get better and to do better, so I’m not ashamed of (my past),’ she said.
‘And I want people to see, no matter who you are, how far you’ve fallen, you can learn and do better.’
