Washington ? Interior Secretary Gale Norton asked a judge Wednesday for more time to fix a flawed system that handles $500 million annually in royalties from Indian-owned land.

But after five years of presiding in a lawsuit alleging the mismanagement of $10 billion in Indian money, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth was skeptical, noting he had heard similar reform promises from Norton’s predecessor.

“Secretary (Bruce) Babbitt sat right in that chair where you are and assured me of a great plan and all this was going to happen and none of it happened,” Lamberth said. “How do I rely on what you … are telling me now and how is it different from what Secretary Babbitt told me?”

Norton said her department has hired outside consultants to help speed reform efforts, she is seeking an $84 million increase in spending on trust reform, and her top deputies are devoted to fixing the system.

“We’re very dedicated to doing this,” Norton said. “I’d really like to see this change take place … during my time as secretary.”

Norton was on the stand defending herself against a contempt of court allegation for allegedly concealing the failure of key Indian accounting systems and not complying with Lamberth’s order to account for how much the Indians are owed. She said progress has been made on both fronts, but problems remain.

Dennis Gingold, the attorney for 300,000 Indians in the class-action lawsuit, said Norton’s promises do not change the fact that the trust fund is in crisis despite the Interior Department spending $614 million to fix it.

Norton said her department deserves a “passing grade” in some reform areas, but needs improvement in others.

Elouise Cobell, a banker from the Blackfeet Nation that sued the Interior Department in 1996, said “passing” should not be good enough when it comes to managing Indian money.

She said Norton should be jailed as punishment for failing to fix the trust fund and Lamberth should assign someone outside the Interior Department with the expertise to fix the system.

Although much of the alleged wrongdoing occurred during Babbitt’s tenure, Norton and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb are on trial as the current officials in charge of the trust fund.

After weeks of testimony, Lamberth has scheduled closing arguments for Feb. 21.