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The so-called secretary of state for a group that claims to be an American Indian tribe pleaded guilty Tuesday to harboring illegal immigrants.

Prosecutors contend the Kaweah Indian Nation is a fake tribe that defrauded immigrants by falsely claiming tribal membership conferred U.S. citizenship and would allow immigrants to obtain other documents and benefits, including Social Security cards. Even if the Wichita-based tribe were real, prosecutors say, tribal membership would not make someone a U.S. citizen.

In her guilty plea Tuesday, Debra Flynn, also known as Little Mouse, admitted that she processed and handled tribal membership applications and supervised others who did the same. She also admitted that she worked with Hispanic pastors across the U.S. to sell memberships in the Kaweah Indian Nation to church members who were illegally in the country.

During the hearing in U.S. District Court in Wichita, she told the judge that she had served as the tribe's primary administrator.

By September 2007, the Kaweah Indian Nation had received applications from more than 14,000 people wishing to join the tribe.

Kamaronte Jones' public defender said Tuesday that the scene at a Wichita party last August was too chaotic to yield enough evidence to convict the 18-year-old of murder.

Mark Orr told jurors that witnesses called into court this week will tell too many differing stories for the jury to find Jones guilty of first-degree murder.

Orr said Keith Peters was shot to death trying to break up a fight between gang members at a party -- a scene that turned to chaos when shots were fired.

"There were a lot of people who were there during that chaos," Orr said. "A lot of people who have varying allegiances."

But prosecutor C.J. Rieg said that while partygoers scattered after Peters was shot just after midnight on Aug. 26, 2007, enough of them stuck around to give police a detailed description of the shooter. Enough details of the shooting, Rieg said, to prove premeditation.

A judge ruled Tuesday that a state law allowing six jurors for misdemeanor trials is constitutional, turning aside a defense motion to empanel a 12-person jury in the criminal case against Wichita abortion provider George Tiller.

Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens said that while Kansas does not have a case that directly addressed the issue of six-person juries, a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in a Florida case was a factor in his decision. Tiller's trial is set for March 16.

"There is no need to interpret the Kansas Constitution any differently than what the Supreme Court interpreted the U.S. Constitution," Owens said.

Tiller is charged with 19 misdemeanors for allegedly breaking a 1998 state law. The late-term abortion law requiring two doctors, without financial or legal ties, to conclude that if the pregnancy continues, the mother will die or face "substantial and irreversible" harm to "a major bodily function," which has been interpreted to include mental health.

Tiller relied on Ann Kristin Neuhaus of Nortonville for his second opinion on abortions in 2003, and prosecutors contend she had a financial relationship with him that violated the law.

Opening statements are set for 9 a.m. today in the murder trial of Kamaronte Jones.

Jones was 17 at the time he was accused of killing Keith "Fritter" Peters, 18, on Aug. 26, 2007, during a party in the 1600 block of East Fortuna. Police said Peters was shot to death when he tried to break up a fight.

The Fritter Foundation was established in Peters' honor to help steer young people to an alternative to street gangs.

Sedgwick County Assistant District Attorney C.J. Rieg is prosecuting. Public defender Mark Orr represents Jones, now 18. Ben Burgess is the judge.

A jury was seated Monday.

George Tiller will learn today when he'll be scheduled for trial, after a judge ruled Monday that prosecutors can proceed with 19 misdemeanor charges against the Wichita abortion provider.

Sedgwick County District Judge Clark Owens denied a motion by Tiller's lawyers to dismiss the charges, brought more than a year ago by the Kansas Attorney General's Office. Owens will meet with lawyers today to decide scheduling.

Dan Monnat, one of the lawyers who represents Tiller, said he expects arguments to continue over the abortion records from Tiller's Women's Health Care Services clinic, which led to the charges.

Tiller has denied that he had an inappropriate professional relationship with a doctor who gave second opinions.

A 1998 Kansas law requires women seeking certain late-term abortions to get an independent medical opinion. Before a woman can terminate a pregnancy on a potentially viable fetus, the law requires two doctors to agree that the abortion is necessary to preserve the life and health of the mother. Courts have determined this includes mental health.

Criminal complaints from police beats in Wichita. Missing dates indicate days where no reports were filed.

Beat 11

Drug offense

1000 block of N. Custer, July 16.

3900 block of W. 13th, July 19.

Abel, Gregory E. and Armstrong, Elizabeth H., both of Derby.

Ackland, Daniel T. and Dyck, Michelle J., both of Wichita.

Adkins, Thomas J. and Kreie, Kelsey D., both of Wichita.

Albright, Thomas K., Wichita, and Hazlett, Tamara L., Haysville.

Allen, Arnold S. Jr. and Hayden, Tia M., both of Wichita.

Democrat Jim Slattery said Tuesday that television ads by Republican Sen. Pat Roberts' re-election campaign mislead voters about Slattery's work as a Washington lobbyist.

But Roberts' campaign stood by the commercials. Spokeswoman Molly Haase said of Slattery, "He's whining."

Slattery is Roberts' leading Democratic challenger. He's expected to easily win the party's Aug. 5 primary against Lee Jones. Roberts has no primary opponent.

Slattery represented the 2nd Congressional District in 1983-94 before joining a Washington lobbying and law firm.

"Pat Roberts is attacking me to distract from his record -- attack to distract -- and Kansans deserve better," Slattery said in a news conference.

Welcome to the forgotten primary.

For months, the Kansas political scene has been abuzz with interest over the expected November Senate matchup between incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts and former U.S. Rep. Jim Slattery, a Democrat. The race has drawn millions of dollars in donations and attention from national pollsters interested in the Senate balance of power.

Only one problem: Slattery hasn't yet won his party's nomination to run against Roberts.

Standing in the way is a primary Tuesday between Slattery and railroad engineer Lee Jones.

Jones was the Democrats' candidate by default in 2004 against Republican Sen. Sam Brownback.

Who should decide where people should be able to smoke -- the state, cities or businesses? Two-thirds of legislative candidates in south-central Kansas who responded to an Eagle questionnaire said the decision is best left to local government or to businesses.

"I do not believe that it is the role of government to act as the moral compass of society," wrote Republican Senate candidate Kenya Cox in response to the questionnaire. "Although I personally abhor smoking, I believe in the free market." She will face the winner of a Democratic primary between Kelechi "KC" Ohaebosim and Oletha Faust-Goudeau.

But some advocates on both sides of the issue worry about a patchwork effect as a growing number of cities -- 31, including Derby, Maize and Wichita -- regulate smoking in some way.

"If you let the locals handle it, one city is going to do something different from another city," said Sen. David Wysong, R-Mission Hills. "It really only seems to work if everyone has the same rules across the board."

He said he plans to push for a statewide smoking ban when lawmakers return to Topeka in January.

Candidates for the Sedgwick County Commission say they understand that people are fed up with property taxes and want relief.

The bitter pull between how to lower taxes and preserve services is playing out in the race for the District 3 seat on the Sedgwick County Commission. District 3 covers much of western Sedgwick County, including some of west Wichita.

County officials also seem to be scrambling to find ways to address taxpayers' concerns -- from County Manager William Buchanan's proposal to reduce the county property tax levy by 1 mill and not build a planned $54 million jail expansion, to Commissioner Kelly Parks' proposal for an 18-month, 1 percent sales tax to pay off bonds.

There are ways to do it, says Bart Hildreth, Wichita State University's regents distinguished professor of public finance. But none of them is easy, and some come with a cost.

"The property tax is a wealth tax by design," Hildreth said, paid by residents whose property -- whether a home or a commercial building --"is enhanced by the services of the community."

Red and blue stripes on the Project Vote Smart bus blur into purple as it crosses the country -- representing the bipartisan education its volunteers say they hope to give voters.

The bus's next stop is the Wichita Wingnuts' baseball game Wednesday night.

The project has been 16 years and $12 million in the making, its leaders said. Hundreds of volunteers work from the project's base, a 150-acre ranch in Montana, to continually update its online database, called the "Voter's Self-Defense System."

Adelaide Kimball, senior adviser to the project and one of its founders, said money for the project comes from 45,000 individual donors and from federal grants -- not from groups with political interests.

"We don't lobby for or against any cause," she said. "Our effort is to empower people."

The race for a Senate seat representing Butler County drew the most campaign donations among local contested primaries for the Statehouse.

Rep. Ty Masterson raised $32,240 between Jan. 1 and July 24 from several political action committees and individual donors. His largest expenditures so far have been on signs and postage.

His Republican primary opponent, Butler County Commissioner Will G. Carpenter, had raised $26,770 and spent $23,888 in the same period. Both candidates started with no money in their campaign funds.

Money might buy yard signs, pay for campaign events and send out fliers, but there is more to a successful campaign, political observers said.

"Money by itself doesn't do the job but it certainly helps you get the necessary exposure," said Mel Kahn, who teaches political science at Wichita State University.

In terms of fundraising, Undersheriff Bob Hinshaw and Wichita Deputy Police Chief Robert Lee have separated themselves from the field in the contest for Sedgwick County sheriff.

In a battle of Republican activists, Pachyderm Club leader Sarah Skelton has raised and spent more than twice as much as Sedgwick County GOP chairman Kelly Arnold in the race for county clerk.

Sedgwick County Commissioner Tom Winters has amassed three times more than his opponent as he seeks to stave off a challenge from Kansas Taxpayers Network executive director Karl Peterjohn.

The honor for the most costly two-candidate primary race goes to Sean Corrigan McEnulty and Bruce Brown, who are seeking the Republican nomination for a District Court judge seat.

Combined, they have raised more than $80,000 for their campaigns.