Goshute (tribal) leaders indicted by feds | Salt Lake Tribune

[Ediacara]

Goshute leaders indicted by feds



By Judy Fahys
The Salt Lake Tribune

A federal grand jury has indicted Goshute tribal leader Leon Bear for cheating on his taxes and stealing from his tribe, sometimes double-dipping from accounts tied to the tiny Indian band's plans to operate a multibillion-dollar storage site for high-level nuclear waste at its Skull Valley Reservation.

And, in an odd twist, the grand jury also leveled bank-fraud charges against three dissident tribal leaders who have been Bear's harshest accusers, mainly Goshutes opposed to the waste enterprise. The three, and the attorney who advised them, were indicted for withdrawing money from tribal accounts following a 2001 election the government is now calling bogus.

"The charges today have nothing to do with high-level radioactive waste and Bear's efforts to bring it here," said U.S. Attorney for Utah Paul M. Warner in announcing the indictments Thursday.

"It's public corruption, pure and simple," added Chip Burrus, agent in charge for the Salt Lake Division of the FBI, one of three agencies investigating the case.

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[tlcandie]

1. I will wait to hear what the Indians say.....

Ward Churchill might speak up on this I hope. Is this part of the plan to take tribal lands in this latest bill for resource plundering?

When the Indians speak out against their leaders then I will listen.