article_snippet.sent: Soto, a Lipan Apache, asserted He was participating in an Indian religious ceremony.
article_snippet.sent: But a federal Fish and Wildlife Service agent found a federal Fish and Wildlife Service agent tribe wasn't federally recognized, and Robert Soto surrendered a federal Fish and Wildlife Service agent .
article_snippet.sent: Russell, who is married to Robert Soto's sister, isn't Indian Indian and agreed to pay a fine, according to court papers and the America Bar Association Journal.
article_snippet.sent: Robert Soto, however, petitioned the federal Interior Department to return their feathers.
article_snippet.sent: The feds said no, because Robert Soto wasn't from a recognized tribe.
article_snippet.sent: Soto, a Lipan Apache sued the federal government, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the federal government, rejecting the two men's First Amendment assertions and Soto, a Lipan Apache claims under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the same 1993 statute that Indiana legislators used in developing Indiana legislators new state law.
article_snippet.sent: On March 10, the federal government returned their feathers to Robert Soto.
article_snippet.sent: the federal government still maintains the federal government can criminally prosecute Robert Soto and Robert Soto congregants, so Robert Soto is seeking a preliminary injunction, claiming The feds are violating the federal RFRAthe federal RFRA, said Luke Goodrich, Robert Soto's attorney who's with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.