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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A federal judge has appointed a mediator to try to settle a long-running lawsuit alleging Utah failed to properly manage a Navajo trust fund that takes royalties on reservation oil wells.
U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell appointed William C. Canby Jr. of Phoenix, a senior judge for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Campbell ordered Utah to pay Canby up to $20,000 for travel and other expenses.
Canby was directed to sit down with lawyers for Navajos and the state next Wednesday.
Utah's 7,500 Navajos claim they've been cheated in their trust funds. Their lawsuit, filed in 1992, says some funds were never invested while others were squandered on bad business deals and thievery.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
