TRIBAL OFFICIAL FACING CHARGES VOTE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES WITH TRIBAL FUNDS
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Tribal council members accused of stealing from the Leech
Lake and White Earth Chippewa bands have voted to authorize their
governments to pay their legal expenses.
The Leech Lake arrangement was disclosed in documents filed
recently by U.S. Attorney David Lillehaug. His is prosecuting officials in
both bands, as well as state Sen. Harold "Skip" Finn, DFL-Cass Lake, who
worked for the Leech Lake band.
Prosecutors last week filed subpoenas seeking information about any
money paid for legal fees to Finn, Leech Lake Tribal Chairman Alfred "Tig"
Pemberton and Secretary-Treasurer Daniel Brown.
They asked the U.S. magistrate judge in Duluth to block the
inquiry, saying that the questions are a "fishing expedition" by the
government and irrelevant to the criminal charges.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Raymond Erickson took the request under
advisement Wednesday.
Prosecutors say that if Finn and the Leech Lake official filled out
applications to cover legal expenses, they would have made admissions
relevant at trial.
Federal prosecutors have not made an issue of legal payments in
their case against White Earth Tribal Chairman Darrel "Chip" Wadens,
Secretary-Treasurer Jerry Rawley and Council Member Rick Clark. They were
indicted in August on charges of bid-rigging related to construction of
Shooting Star Coasino in Mahnomen. Wadena man $428,000 for the deal,
prosecutors say.
The official apparently broke no laws by authorizing their bands to
compensate them for legal expenses, but their actions outrages some tribal
members.
"It's crazy," said Roxanne LaRose, a member of the Leech Lake Band
who has been at odds with tribal government of the years. "they're being
taken to court for stealing from us, and now they're using tribal funds to
defend themselves..
Governments typically indemnify officials and employees against the
cost of defending themselves from lawsuits. Governments sometimes pay
legal fees for their officials or employees in criminal cases.
However, secrecy, timing and other factors add an unusual twist to
the tribal ordinances that authorize payments for legal fees.
The White Earth Tribal Council passes its ordinance after the
federal grand jury investigation into reservation corruption had begun.
The Leech Lanke Band passed its ordinance six months after a
federal grand jury indicted Finn, Pemberton and Brown on charges of using
an insuranbce scam to steal $1 million in federal funds and other moeny
belonging to the tribe.
Pemberton and Brown signed the ordinance, which passed 3-0 at a
speical meeting of the Leech Lake Tribal Council in St. Paul, the ordinance
said. Two council members did not vote.
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more notes of interest:
-St. Paul is approximately 450 miles from the Leech Lake Res
-Most Tribal Council Meetings are also closed.
-One tribal council member at Leech Lake has already served time in federal
prison for his role in the insurance scam.
-The tribal constitutions, designed by the B.I.A. during reorganization, sez
that tribal council members can only be removed from office by a
2/3 vote of the council. The thieves make up 2/3 of each
council. They all also serve on the Tribal Executive
Committee of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
_Tribal members from each rez have asked the B.I.A. to step in and appoint an
interim government until federal cases are resolved. B.I.A. refuses,
saying that is an 'internal' problem that tribes must solve themselves.
-Even though many of the federal indictments involve voter fraud and election
fraud. (Dead members vote in tribal elections; as well as enrolled
members who have not lived on the rez for years vote by absentee ballots
that they never saw, that get notorized by tribal judges.) --- The
B.I.A. refuses to monitor the upcoming tribal election
Where's the trust in this trust relationship??????
feather eaglerock
leech lake rez (a sovereign anishinabe nation surrounded by the state of
minnesota and run by crooks)
english is a foreign language! reclaim your language. reclaim your
heritage and send it to the future with your grandchildren as your gift to
their grandchildren.
di-ka-ne'-tsv a'-qua-tse'-li ha-htv-gi, wa-do' do-da-da-go'-hv