Shawn Augare Sentenced To Prison For Bank Fraud

The United States Attorney's Office announced that SHAWN JOSEPH AUGARE, 38, of Browning, Montana, was sentenced to a term of 9 months imprisonment, three years supervised release, a special assessment of $100, and restitution of $6,460.14 during a federal court hearing in Great Falls, Montana, on May 23, 2014, before U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris.

AUGARE was sentenced in connection with his February 11, 2013, guilty plea to bank fraud. In an Offer of Proof, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Weldon stated it would have proved that AUGARE cashed and deposited forged checks from the Child and Family Advocacy Center account that were drawn from Wells Fargo Bank and Stockman Bank. The Child and Family Advocacy Center (CFAC) account was an account controlled by AUGARE's father, Delyle Shanny Augare and Francis Onstad, the Directors of the Po'Ka Project. Prosecutors alleged that over $230,000 was embezzled from the Po'Ka grant and laundered through the CFAC account between August 2008 and September 2011 with the assistance of Dr. Gary Conti, who was convicted in May 2014 of 26 counts related to corruption and theft from the Po'Ka program.

AUGARE attempted to take $10,300 during the commission of the bank fraud. When interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, AUGARE admitted that he stole the money.

At sentencing, the government stated, "Augare is old enough to know better. . . [H]e has been unable to control his propensity to steal and defraud others. It is now up to the Court to ensure that Augare is properly punished and that he is deterred from continually engaging in fraudulent activity."

The District Court sentenced AUGARE to a guideline sentence of 9 months imprisonment, with three years of supervised release to follow. Because there is no parole in the federal system, the truth in sentencing guidelines mandate that AUGARE will serve all of the time imposed by the court.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.