Former Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Tribal Council Member Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud

Jackson, Miss. – Randy Lamar Anderson, 46, of Conehatta, a former elected member of the Tribal Council for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, entered a plea of guilty Thursday before Chief U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III to federal wire fraud, announced United States Attorney Mike Hurst and Special Agent in Charge Michelle A. Sutphin of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Mississippi. 

A Federal Grand Jury originally indicted Anderson on February 6, 2019, charging him with one count of theft and two counts of wire fraud for defrauding the Choctaw Tribal government.  Between August 2016 and November 2018, Anderson forged hotel bills and receipts and submitted those documents to the Tribal government in claims for reimbursement for official business travel.  Since the original indictment issued, Anderson’s term on the Tribal Council expired, and Anderson did not run for reelection to the Council.

Chief Judge Jordan will sentence Anderson on March 3, 2021 at 9:30 a.m., at the Thad Cochran United States Courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi,   Anderson faces a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a possible fine of up to $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Hurst commended the work of the Special Agents with the FBI’s Jackson Division who investigated the case.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Theodore Cooperstein.