Lame Deer Woman, Billings Doctor Plead Guilty in Northern Cheyenne Sex Trafficking Case

BILLINGS — A Lame Deer woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to sex trafficking a minor on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, federal prosecutors announced.

Veronica Clarice Baker, 29, admitted to one count of sex trafficking of a minor and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and five years to a lifetime of supervised release.

According to court documents, Baker arranged a commercial sex encounter between a minor known to her and Dr. Usman Hanif Khan, 52, whom she met on a social media website. The incident occurred on April 9, 2023, when Baker transported the underage victim to Khan’s residence in Billings for the encounter.

Khan, who pleaded guilty in June to interstate transportation in aid of racketeering, faces up to five years in prison. He provided medical services at St. Vincent Regional Hospital as a contracted locum tenens physician but was never employed by the hospital, according to Intermountain Health officials who told KTVQ they were “deeply disturbed” by the case.

Baker had known the victim for some time, and the girl had occasionally watched Baker’s children. Baker was aware the victim was under 18 years old at the time of the trafficking.

The case was prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters will determine Baker’s sentence at a later date. She remains detained pending further proceedings.

The case adds to a pattern of child exploitation prosecutions on Montana’s Indian reservations. Recent cases include a Fort Belknap school employee charged with failing to report child abuse and a Box Elder man who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl on the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Zeno Baucus prosecuted the case, and the FBI conducted the investigation.