Former tribal official sentenced to prison for bribery

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A former Three Affiliated Tribes official was sentenced Monday to six years and three months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a scheme that involved soliciting and accepting bribes and kickbacks from a contractor providing construction services on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

The U.S. Attorney's office said Frank Charles Grady, 54, of Billings, Montana, was a tribal business council representative from 2014 to 2018 for the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes.

Authorities say Grady solicited and accepted bribes and kickbacks for more than $260,000 from a contractor operating on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. In exchange for the payments, Grady used his official position to help the contractor's business by awarding contracts, fabricating bids and managing fraudulent invoices.

Grady and two others were originally charged with receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from the bribery scheme that lasted for eight years on the oil-rich reservation. The contractor has pleaded guilty to bribery and has been cooperating with prosecutors. Prosecutors said the business received more than $17 million over the past decade for construction work on the reservation.