3 Narragansetts sentenced in smoke shop raid

PROVIDENCE -- The leader of the Narragansett Indian Tribe was ordered Thursday to perform 150 hours of community service for participating in a violent scuffle with state troopers during a 2003 raid on a tribal smoke shop.

Superior Court Judge Susan McGuirl sentenced Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas to educate school children about the history of the Narragansett tribe. She also ordered Randy Noka to perform 25 hours of community service by visiting schools.

A third defendant, Hiawatha Brown, received a one-year suspended sentence for slamming a state trooper's arm in a door.

The defendants were convicted in April of either disorderly conduct or simple assault. Four other tribe members were acquitted.

The men were arrested when police raided a tribal shop in Charlestown that was selling cigarettes without collecting state taxes. The raid, carried out in the early afternoon, turned violent after a few dozen officers - some with dogs - poured onto the smoke shop parking lot.

The raid capped a standoff between Thomas and Gov. Don Carcieri, who ordered the raid, over tribal sovereignty. The clash was filmed by television news crews and agitated relations between the state and the tribe.

McGuirl said it was remarkable there weren't more serious injuries given the number of officers at the raid, the women and children there and the inflamed passions on both sides.

"This incident never should have happened. But I do take comfort in the fact that this situation could have been much worse," McGuirl said.

Noka and Thomas will have the opportunity to have their convictions expunged if they stay out of trouble for a year. Brown also received probation and was ordered to undergo anger-management counseling.

"It is what it is," Thomas told reporters outside court. "We thought the law was on our side."

The defendants told McGuirl they regretted the confrontation but stopped short of apologizing for their actions.

"We're going nowhere, the state's going nowhere," Brown said. "So to better the lives of everyone, we need to put this behind us, move forward."