Eagletown Resident Sentenced for Embezzlement and Theft from Indian Tribal Organization
| U.S. Attorney’s Office February 08, 2010 |
MUSKOGEE, OK—Sheldon J. Sperling, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced today that AHDOHLOWAH ESTHER TONIHKA, age 63, of Eagletown, Oklahoma, was sentenced to four years’ probation for Embezzlement and Theft from an Indian Tribal Organization, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1163.
Charges arose from an investigation by the Choctaw Nation Tribal Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” stated U.S. Attorney Sheldon J. Sperling. “TONIHKA was indicted in June 2009, and pled guilty in August 2009.
From about October 10, 2008, until January 2, 2009, TONIHKA, an employee of the Choctaw Nation Travel Plaza, embezzled over $26,000.00 by inflating the dollar amounts on gas receipts. TONIHKA was ordered by the court to pay $26,700.00 in restitution and enter into treatment for gambling addiction.
The Honorable James H. Payne, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over today’s hearing.
Assistant United States Attorney Dean Burris represented the United States.