News from the Department of Justice

Robert Darryl War Club Found Guilty in U.S. Federal Court (U.S. Attorney For the District of Montana)
Bill Mercer, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, announced that on Oct. 1, 2009, in Great Falls, after a four day federal district court trial before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, Robert Darryl War Club, a 49-year-old resident of Wolf Point, was found guilty of first degree murder. Sentencing is set for Jan. 7, 2010. He is currently detained. War Club faces possible penalties of life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and 5 years supervised release.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mt/pressreleases/20091001154515.html

Former Casino Employee Sentenced to 37 Months in Prison (U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona)
Adam Thomas Vega, 31, of Tucson, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Cindy K. Jorgenson on Oct. 1, 2009, to 37 months in prison. Vega was also ordered to pay $644,422 in restitution. Vega, a former casino worker, pleaded guilty on April 10, 2009, to one count each of theft by an officer or employee of a gaming establishment on Indian Lands and attempted evasion of assessment and payment of his 2006 federal individual income taxes. Vega admitted that between October 2005 and July 2007, while employed as a slot floor person at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, he created 585 fraudulent jackpot override tickets. All of the false jackpot tickets were for amounts under $1,200 to avoid generating a W-2G federal tax withholding form. Vega submitted a total of $644,422 in jackpot tickets to the casino cage cashiers which were all cashed over the three year period.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/az/press_releases/2009/2009-313(Vega).pdf

Summer Lee Many White Horses Pleads Guilty in U.S. Federal Court (U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana)
Bill Mercer, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls on Oct. 1, 2009, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Strong, Summer Lee Many White Horses, a 32-year-old resident of Browning and Great Falls, pled guilty to Social Security fraud. Sentencing is set for Dec. 28, 2009. She is currently detained. Many White Horses applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits on behalf of her son on September 18, 2007. Her son was eligible for federal assistance based upon his speech and language delays. This claim was approved and Many White Horses was selected to serve as her son’s representative payee, meaning she would receive and manage her son’s money for him. During an interview with law enforcement officials, Many White Horses told detectives her son had died on May 29, 2008. Following this interview, detectives retrieved her son’s badly decomposed body from the trunk of Many White Horses’ car. Many White Horses was recently convicted of negligent homicide for the death of her son in state court. She faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mt/pressreleases/last20.html

U.S. Attorney Steps up Efforts in Montana Indian Country

Here’s an interesting bit of information reported yesterday by the Great Falls Tribune: only six burglaries were prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Montana’s Indian Country last year, despite the fact that for the two previous years, the Bureau of Indian Affairs records show that about 400 burglaries were reported each year on six reservations. U.S. Attorney Bill Mercer indicated that law enforcement officials are not referring the cases, and in some cases, may not be aware that the cases should be referred to his office.

Mercer drafted memos to all BIA law enforcement leaders, tribal prosecutors and county sheriffs in Montana's Indian Country to inform them of the types of cases his office should be aware of. In the letter, he asked that those officials fax his office details of the crime immediately, rather than waiting until an investigation is complete.

Tribal Leader in Arizona Pleads Guilty to Theft of Tribal Funds

Evelyn James, a Tribal Council member of the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe in Arizona, pleaded guilty on July 1 to false statements, theft from a tribal government receiving federal funds and money laundering, according to a report released last week from the Justice Department.

James, 54, admitted to stealing almost $300,000 in tribal funds. James intermittently served as the Tribal President of the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and in that capacity, completed, signed and submitted false statements and records to obtain funds for the tribe from the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. James submitted falsified accountings in which she asked for reimbursement from the COPS program for expenditures that were never made by the tribe. The false submissions indicated that the tribe hired and paid three police officers when no peace officers were ever hired, trained or employed.

James will be sentenced in September.