Former Spirit Lake Tribal Employee Pleads Guilty to Theft from an Indian Tribal Organization
| U.S. Attorney’s Office January 26, 2012 |
FARGO—U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on Jan. 26, 2012, Brooke Black, 29, of Fort Totten, ND, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft and embezzlement from an Indian tribal organization.
Black, an employee with the Food Distribution Program, pleaded guilty to theft and embezzlement from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation. Black submitted applications for assistance that did not include the total income and size of her household, thereby making her eligible to receive fuel assistance. The incidents occurred from October 2008 through March 2011 on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation.
The charge carries a statutory maximum penalty of up to one year imprisonment.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Sentencing for Black has been scheduled for April 23, 2012, in U.S. District Court in Fargo, N.D., at 2:00 p.m.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Janice M. Morley and Brett Shasky prosecuted the case.