Former Coordinator of an Indian Tribal Organization Sentenced for Embezzlement

FARGO—U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on Dec. 19, 2011, Patricia Robertson, a/k/a Patricia Cavanaugh, 53, of St. Michael, N.D., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Patrick A. Conmy on a charge of embezzlement.

Judge Conmy sentenced Robertson to three years of probation, which includes six months of home confinement. Robertson was ordered to pay restitution of $5,458.80 and to pay a $100 special assessment to the Crime Victim’s Fund.

Robertson was found guilty by a 12-person jury on October 20, 2011, of embezzlement from the Spirit Lake Tribe’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Robertson, the former coordinator of LIHEAP, was convicted of misapplying funds belonging to LIHEAP on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation. Evidence was presented at trial that, while Robertson was the program coordinator of LIHEAP, she improperly allowed heating assistance benefits to be paid from the program funds for fuel deliveries to her own households. The evidence showed that Robertson knew that the applications that had been filed for these LIHEAP benefits were fraudulent. The applications had been made only in the names of Robertson’s daughters.This was improper because Robertson’s name and income should also have appeared on these applications for LIHEAP benefits. Robertson was living with her daughters at the time these applications were submitted and Robertson’s income should have been included in the applications in order to properly determine the households’ eligibility for LIHEAP benefits. The offense occurred for the terms of fiscal years 2007 through 2011.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Janice M. Morley and Brett Shasky prosecuted the case.