Tenth Circuit Affirms Conviction of Former Cheyenne-Arapho Tribal Leaders for Theft from a Tribal Organization

Here is the unpublished opinion in United States v. Blind. And here is the related unpublished opinion in United States v. Sankey.

An excerpt:

William Blind appeals his conviction of eight counts of embezzlement and theft from an Indian tribal organization in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1163 and his resulting sentence. He argues there was insufficient evidence to sustain his convictions and that the district court erred in calculating the amount of loss for the purposes of sentencing, including restitution. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a) and 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court AFFIRMS the judgment  of conviction and AFFIRMS the sentence except as to restitution. The order of restitution is REVERSED and the matter is REMANDED for resentencing only as to restitution.

One thought on “Tenth Circuit Affirms Conviction of Former Cheyenne-Arapho Tribal Leaders for Theft from a Tribal Organization

  1. Harold Monteau July 12, 2011 / 5:48 pm

    The “silent witnesses” in Tribal Government need to know their is another part of the Statute under which former Chairman Blind was prosecuted. It allows for prosecution of those who “knew in fact” or “were in a position to know” that the theft and/or conversion of tribal money and property was going on and did not report it to the proper authorities, specifically, the Interior Inspector General, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney.

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