Post Falls Woman Pleads Guilty to Theft from a Tribal Organization

COEUR D’ALENE – Julianna Park, 53, of Post Falls, Idaho, pleaded guilty yesterday to theft from a tribal organization, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Rafael Gonzalez. Parker was indicted by a federal grand jury in Coeur d’Alene on July 20, 2016.

According to the plea agreement and statements made in court, Parker was an employee of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe in its Natural Resources Department in the Land Services Program since 2009. In September 2015, an investigation revealed Parker stole 15 checks totaling $12,870.09 that were meant for the tribe. Parker altered and negotiated checks either by depositing the checks into her own account or cashing the leased land payment checks originally payable to the tribe.

Sentencing is set for November 28, 2017, before Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge. The charge of theft from a tribal organization is punishable by up to five years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, a term of supervised release of not more than three years and a $100 special assessment.

The case was investigated by the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.