Man pleads guilty in corruption case

The key players in a conspiracy to defraud the Chippewa Cree Tribe occasionally met at a Havre pawn shop to figure out ways to exploit tribal and federal contracts, decide who would receive work, and how large the contracts needed to be to cover kickbacks to tribal officials, federal prosecutors said.

The men used nicknames such as Ronald McDonald and Hamburgler, and a finalized deal was referred to as a Happy Meal, according to information included in federal offers of proof in the case against a Havre businessman.

Shad James Huston pleaded guilty Monday in Great Falls to theft from an Indian tribal organization, failure to file currency transaction reports and bribery of a tribal official. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris scheduled sentencing for Nov. 24.

Prosecutors said Huston went by the nickname Chumlee, a character from the “Pawn Stars” TV show, at the meetings held at his pawn shop — Leon’s Buy and Sell.

Former tribal health director Dr. James Eastlick Jr. was Ronald McDonald; tribal business committee member John Houle was “G” or “Triple G,” for greed; and former state representative and committee member Tony Belcourt was Tony the Tiger, prosecutors said.

Huston’s plea acknowledged that one of his businesses received $120,000 from the tribe in October 2011 for $4,000 worth of road work. He also acknowledged failing to report a transaction of more than $10,000 at another business and to spending $25,000 to benefit tribal business committee chairman Bruce Sunchild.

Huston’s attorney, Michael Sherwood, sought to clarify that his client gave Sunchild a $25,000 Chevrolet Suburban on Dec. 23, 2011 — the same day he bought it — as a reward for past business transactions, not as a bribe to guarantee future support.

Federal prosecutors said Huston failed to report 19 financial transactions and spent $57,800 to benefit three tribal members. Sherwood said his client denies all allegations except the facts to which he specifically pleaded guilty.

Companies owned or partially owned by Huston received $3.6 million in tribal contracts from 2010 to 2012, including $1.25 million between May 2011 and November 2012.

Prosecutors allege the conspiracy dates back to October 2009, when the tribe received $20 million in federal stimulus money toward a project to pipe water from Tiber Reservoir south of Chester to the Rocky Boy’s reservation as well as to other towns across the HI-Line.

The tribe also received $11.6 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $25 million in insurance proceeds after heavy flooding destroyed the Rocky Boy’s Health Clinic in 2010.

Belcourt was the contracting officer for the water project and a member of the board that oversaw distribution of the insurance money, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors allege the insurance recovery team authorized the use of $300,000 to help Belcourt after he overdrew his checking account by $250,000 to buy cattle.

The effort involved paying $300,000 to Huston’s newly created company — K & N Consulting — in December 2011, charging documents said. K & N wrote a check to Belcourt for $200,000 on Dec. 20.

Huston and K & N kept $42,200, paid $25,000 for the Suburban that was eventually given to Sunchild’s daughter, paid $12,800 for repairs and maintenance to a vehicle owned by Belcourt, and wrote a $20,000 check out to cash with the memo section noting it was to go to the brother of a member of the tribal business committee, court records said.

Prosecutors said Huston also used money from his personal checking account to obtain a $100,000 cashier’s check payable to Belcourt in December 2011 to help him cover his overdraft, and gave a total of $322,500 in kickbacks to Belcourt and his wife, Hailey.

Belcourt was sentenced earlier this month to 7 1/2 years in prison for theft, bribery and tax evasion and ordered to pay $667,000 in restitution. He is appealing his sentence. Hailey Belcourt pleaded guilty to bank fraud, filing a false tax return and aiding and abetting bribery. She was sentenced to 2 months in prison and ordered to pay $156,000 in restitution.

Eastlick Jr. has pleaded guilty to bribing Belcourt for contracts that went to a construction company he co-owned along with tax fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 25.

Houle and Sunchild were indicted in June and have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, embezzlement and bribery charges.