A former leader of the
Winnebago Tribe was sentenced to probation for his role in the theft of gaming funds.
Lawrence
Payer, 71, was the first person to plead guilty and the first to be sentenced for his role in the crime, in which council members supplemented their salary with funds taken from the
WinnaVegas Casino Resort. The money was distributed to the leaders in the form of pre-paid debit cards, according to court documents.
A total of 9 former leaders, including
former longtime chairman John Blackhawk, were indicted.
So far Payer, who was sentenced on Monday,
Charles
Aldrich, 49;
Louis
Houghton, 70; and
Thomas Snowball, 56, have pleaded guilty. Snowball's plea came on Monday as well.
That leaves the cases involving Blackhawk, Darwin Snyder, Travis Mallory, Morgan Earth and Ramona Wolfe unresolved as of Tuesday afternoon. All had been indicted in July 2016, after they were forced out of office in response to allegations of corruption on the reservation.
The cases are being prosecuted in Nebraska, where tribal headquarters are located. WinnaVegas is on trust land in Iowa.
Read More on the Story:
Former Winnebago tribal officer sentenced; another pleads guilty
(The Sioux City Journal 8/7)
Ex-Winnebago Tribal Council member sentenced for casino theft
(The Lincoln Journal Star 8/8
Winnebago Tribe member gets probation for casino theft
(KMTV 8/8)
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