Pechanga Corruption: Grand Theft Charges for James Riley/Ryan Robinson Dismissed. Judge Says Sister of Demcratic Party Operative Controlled What Was Going On

Judge said now-disenfranchised former chairwoman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians Jennie Miranda, controlled what was happening.  Was this also a reason why she and her son were sanctioned by the tribe?   The elderly Miranda is sister to Chairman of the Native American Caucus of the Democratic Party head Andrew Masiel Sr..

Sichel told Roy she was surprised that the tribe’s board members did not testify during the trial that they had relied on Robinson’s recommendations to them regarding the insurance contracts.
“The answer to that question is that the tribe’s board members would have testified that there were never any meetings, there were never any discussions, and that, as the defense pointed out, Ms. Miranda essentially controlled what had happened,” Roy said, referring to then-Pechanga chairwoman Jennie Miranda.


Sichel said she believed the bribery charges were “more disconnected” from the theft charges than the defense had argued, saying there was evidence of a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours … don’t make waves” relationship between Riley and Robinson.

OP:  It looks like the Masiel-Basquez Crime Family had their fingers all over the place.. Justice Department?  BIA?   Anyone.....anyone??

Read more at the Press Enterprise

Tribal GENOCIDE: Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians AGAIN sends out Disenrollment Letters?

Oh my goodness.  REGGIE LEWIS, is the lowest of the low.   Here's the word we are getting:

MORE chukchansi people enrolled at picayune, many connected to allotments at hogan's mountain, are in receipt of letters for disenrollment and/or banishment meetings authorized by the Reggie Lewis led tribal council...


Tragedy, hatred, rejection...all are manifest at {icayune as our Chukchansi people fly headlong into a destruction of our own making, and our ancestors cry at the loss of a people for whom they suffered and died so long ago, but would no longer recognize by the behavior of our people today..

WHO WILL BE THE LAST OF THE CHUKCHANSI TRIBE.  IS THIS THE TRIBE THE Federal Government recognized?

Unconscionable Leader of Pechanga, Who Used Skullduggery on His OWN PEOPLE, Accuse Liberty Quarry Resubmission of Skullduggery.

Tribal Chairman Mark Macarro today issued the following statement in reaction to news of the resubmission of the Liberty Quarry, a massive mine that would annihilate the one and only Luiseño Ancestral Origin Area.

"This crass attempt to jam through the Liberty Quarry mine is unconscionable and nothing short of skullduggery. The citizens of Riverside County deserve better from their supervisors. We hope the Board will deny fast-tracking this deeply flawed project."
 
"Our Tribe remains committed to preventing annihilation of our one and only Creation Area"
 
Uh, sure Mark.  We believe you.

Pechanga's MInimal Good Deeds Camouflage A Bad Neighbor

With Liberty Quarry back in play, and the recent mistrial of former Pechanga employees, and little coverage of the $350 MILLION theft of per capita from 250 Pechanga people by corrupt tribal councils and the dreadful moratorium to keep rightful people out of the tribe, I thought it time to bring forward a post from 2008. I've added some links to help fill out the story.  PLEASE take a look

It’s been more than a decade since Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro asked the People of California to help Native Americans in their quest for self-reliance. I believe that most people took self-reliance to mean that Native Americans would help take care of their own people with the proceeds of Indian Gambling. This is the messaging of every public relations campaign during every California referendum on Indian Gaming, Each time the leaders of Pechanga were the face of the California Native community.

Unfortunately, self-reliance to Pechanga means keeping rightful people from joining the band and removing people who don’t think the way the leadership wants them to think, so there will be no dissent among the membership. The Council’s policy is cash your check and shut the hell up.

Pechanga’s Constitution and Bylaws provides for OPEN ENROLLMENT each January, yet in 1997 the band approved a petition, which called for a moratorium on member enrollment so that the tribe can get caught up with the applications. There are 10 members on that committee, how long could it take to catch up? The will of the people was the rule of law in an enrollment matter, upheld by the tribal council.

When the people passed a valid petition to halt all disenrollments in 2005, the tribal council maintained that the petition couldn’t be enforced, because the general council had no authority in enrollment matters.

Let’s get this right, the general council says the people could keep people OUT, but they can’t keep people IN?

So, we have the Pechanga Tribal Council acting in a shameful manner by eliminating 25% of their citizenry. They stripped this group of their status as Native Americans, and grabbed their share of per capita payments to grow their own. They keep rightful members from their place at Pechanga via disenrollment and abused the elders and children of two families, terminating their cultural heritage.

In direct contradiction to these reprehensible actions, Pechanga donates to groups like the Boys and Girls Clubs, The Temecula Valley School District, and other organizations, which gladly take generous donations from the tribal government. Would these groups accept these donations if they knew what Pechanga had done to their own people?

Pechanga used those donations to trumpet how they were generous to the community, and good neighbors. Yet, I can’t believe that the organizations mentioned above would believe it’s okay to screw someone, let some people die knowing their heritage was stripped, so that they can have a new swing set on their playgrounds? I really don’t believe they would have endorsed Pechanga in the last elections if they knew what was really happening on the reservation in their own neighborhood.

Ethical businesses and governmental agencies should be expressing their outrage at what Pechanga has done, not turning a blind eye. Many sovereign countries quit doing business in South Africa because of their apartheid policies. Pechanga’s policy of denying basic civil rights to the people that they were purported to be helping with Proposition 5A is little different than South Africa's, or Saudi Arabia's denying women the right to vote.

If Wal-Mart is so bad for not providing health coverage for all of their associates, which bring protests for each new store, why isn’t the same outrage aimed at Pechanga, who not only took away per capita, but health coverage, education assistance, employment and elder care for the citizens they kicked to the curb?

What Pechanga is doing is the epitome of hypocrisy. They are hiding their ‘dirty family secret’ behind a veil of sovereignty, and then publicizing their good deeds to local charities to show what honorable people they are. Don’t allow them to get away with it. It is time the people of this community learn the truth.

Please spread the word and if you must patronize an Indian Gaming facility, it is time to go elsewhere. Let Mark Macarro know that you DO NOT support his actions.

Read more on the Hunter family
How Moratorium People are affected
How YOU can use moral persuasion to change things.
The Francisca Leivas Crime Family of Pechanga
How Pechanga valued the word of a child molester over their hired expert.
How disenrollment is like TRIBAL TERRORISM
KCBS 2 Los Angeles

JURY DEADLOCKS IN PECHANGA THEFT TRIAL. KARMA is a BITCH.

Jury leans 8-4 towards NOT GUILTY in Riley - Robinson trial. Tribe must be disappointed that thieves other than themselves get off. The Pechanga Tribe, led by Mark Macarro and Democrat Party operative Andrew Masiel Sr., has stolen over $350 MILLION from members they stripped of citizenship with hearsay evidence. A Riverside jury deadlocked today in the trial of two men accused of bilking the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians out of $4 million by pocketing funds reserved for the Temecula-based tribe's casino insurance.

On their second day of deliberations, jurors informed Riverside County Superior Court Judge Elisabeth Sichel that they were hopelessly deadlocked 8-4 in favor of finding James William Riley, 48, of Corona, and Ryan Jay Robinson, 41, of Temecula not guilty on most counts, prompting Sichel to declare a mistrial.

A defense request to dismiss the case will be heard Monday.

President Obama Pockets Money from Civil Rights Abusers. Is KKK NEXT on the Fundraising List, Mr. President?

Amazing.  Thousands of Native Americans have been harmed by their tribes.   Now, we hear that President Obama has taken money from at least two tribes in a fundraiser, that have violated the rights of their people:  The Oneida Tribe and The Cherokee Nation.

We've posted on the Cherokee Freedmen  and there is a horrific video on the Oneida action at Tribal Corruption.com 

Here's the story:


Confirmed to be at the event were Deborah Parker, vice-chair of the Tulalip Tribe; Bill John Baker, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation; Todd Hembree, attorney general of the Cherokee Nation; David Bean, a council member of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians; and Ray Halbritter, Oneida Indian Nation representative (Indian Country Today Media Network, LLC is owned by the Oneida Indian Nation). Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Suquamish, and other Indian-focused and tribal officials were also in attendance.



Read more at Indian Country Today, owned by the Oneida Nation

Huge Pechanga Theft Goes Unnoticed, small Insurance Fraud Case In Juries Hands

The huge theft of per capita BY Pechanga of over $350 MILLION GOES UNREPORTED, but the Riley-Robinson case goes to the jury.

Jury deliberations got under way today in the trial of a former accountant for the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians and an ex- insurance broker, who are accused of teaming to steal about $4 million from the Temecula-based tribe by diverting funds reserved for insurance coverage.

James William Riley, 48, of Corona and Ryan Jay Robinson, 41, of Temecula were indicted in February 2010 on multiple felony charges stemming from a scam that the pair allegedly perpetrated between 2005 and 2007. Riley, a former insurance broker and partner at Riley, Garrison & Associates, could face 20 years in prison and six-figure fines if convicted of three counts each of grand theft, commercial bribery and money laundering.

Robinson, the Pechanga tribe's former chief financial officer, is facing up to seven years behind bars if convicted of grand theft and three counts of bribery. The prosecution completed its closing statement Monday, and the defendants' attorneys finished their statements this morning.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Elisabeth Sichel sent the jury behind closed doors to begin weighing the defendants' fates around 2 p.m.

Deputy District Attorney Jeanne Roy told jurors that Riley and Robinson began scamming the tribe shortly after Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. Commercial insurance rates went through the roof following the disaster, enabling the defendants to justify exorbitant insurance costs from which they were profiting, Roy alleged.

She alleged that Riley artificially inflated the tribe's property and risk insurance premiums to pocket large sums disguised as fees, with Robinson's complicity. According to the prosecutor, Riley lived a lavish lifestyle while his co-defendant used $190,000 in ill-gotten gains to pay off gambling debts.

According to Riley's attorney, Souley Diallo, his client never committed a crime, and the prosecution's case boils down to a misunderstanding of complex financial arrangements. Chris Jensen, Robinson's legal counsel, acknowledged that his client received tens of thousands of dollars in cashier's checks from Riley, but said there's no evidence that the funds were part of a bribe or arose from a conspiracy to rip off the tribe. Riley is free on $1 million bail, and Robinson is free on a $120,000 bond.

You Think Pechanga's Andrew Masiel Might Be Interested? How can Brother of Former Pechanga Chair Not Know?

how is Jennie doing?

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A former Crow Creek tribal council member has been sentenced on accusations he concealed information from authorities investigating a bribery conspiracy on the South Dakota reservation.

Loren "Rocky" Fallis pleaded guilty earlier to misprision of a felony. The U.S. attorney's office says the 58-year-old Fallis lied about a meeting in October 2008 where a contractor allegedly divided cash between several current and former members of the council.

Dept. Of Interior Fails to Show for Congressional Hearing. BIA is Missing In Action In CA Tribal Rights Abuses

WASHINGTON – What if Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, held a hearing on federal recognition of tribes and no one came? At least no one from the federal agency that handles tribal recognition issues? That’s what happened on June 27, when Young called a meeting of the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs, titled, “Authorization, standards, and procedures for whether, how, and when Indian tribes should be newly recognized by the federal government,” and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and all staff underneath him declined to show up. The slight was made all the more stinging when two weeks later, on July 12, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, chaired by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, held a hearing on the same issue, and Interior sent an expert witness.

Questions come fast and furious: Are we seeing the era of political hardball clash with the usually bi-partisan efforts on Indian policy? Is Interior so desperately understaffed on Native policy issues that it couldn’t find anyone to send to Young’s meeting? Does Young have bad breath?

Regardless of the answers to any or all of those questions, Young is mad, and he believes politics are at play. “Unfortunately, it’s become clear to the Congressman that the Department of the Interior [DOI] is playing politics with tribal federal recognition—especially when you consider how many times DOI has stonewalled not only Rep. Young’s Subcommittee, but the House Natural Resources Committee as a whole,” said Luke Miller, a spokesman for Young.

“Congressman Young has always held the belief that Congress has the final say when it comes to making federal tribal policy,” Miller added. “It does seem as if DOI’s reluctance to work with our subcommittee is rooted in their belief that they—the executive branch—have primary authority over federal tribal policy.”

Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/07/19/interior-department-disses-us-house-on-tribal-federal-recognition-124209 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/07/19/interior-department-disses-us-house-on-tribal-federal-recognition-124209#ixzz21IU9858c

Cherokee Freedmen, Descendents of the Slaves the Cherokee Dragged as Property, Anticipate Regaining Citizenship Rights

Area Cherokee Freedmen descendants gathered July 14 at the First Missionary Baptist Church to discuss the latest development in their fight for Cherokee Nation citizenship, saying justice would soon be served on their behalf. 

On July 2, the Department of Interior filed a counterclaim against the Nation to obtain a declaratory judgment that the 1866 Treaty between the CN and United States provides Freedmen descendants with certain rights and privileges, including tribal citizenship. 

The counterclaim is now part of a lawsuit filed in 2009 by the CN against five Freedmen and the Interior in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma in Tulsa. No hearing dates have been set for the suit or the counterclaim.

“It’s been a long time coming. We’ve been waiting for justice to be served for the Cherokee Freedmen,” said Kathy Washington, one of the Freedmen defendants in the case. 

She said many of her ancestors are on “all the Cherokee rolls” and her great-great-great-great grandfather was a by-blood Cherokee named Mose Mackey.  

“We come from a long line of Cherokee history and to be told that our history no longer matters, it really does hurt. It deeply hurts,” she said. “We came across the Trail (of Tears) and suffered along with the Cherokee and helped build the Nation.”

A Sept. 2, 2011, injunction from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia allows Washington and approximately 2,800 other Freedmen to have CN citizenship while the case is pending. 

Washington said she’s praying that soon other Freedmen would be able to enroll in the CN, too. 

CN citizen David Cornsilk, a supporter of Freedmen citizenship, spoke to about 50 Freedmen who attended the July 14 meeting. He said he believes with the Interior’s counterclaim Freedmen are “close” to victory and the CN would soon start processing Freedmen applications that have been in the Registrar’s Office since March 2007. 

On March 3, 2007, CN voters amended the tribe’s constitution requiring a citizen to have an ancestor with Indian blood on the Dawes Roll. 

“I’m not trying to speak for the chief (Bill John Baker)…it just makes sense to me that if people have been denied the ability to be registered in the tribe for as long as you folks have, they need to take special steps to go ahead and get those that have been sitting there waiting through the process,” he said. 

Cornsilk walked Freedmen through the registration process and provided tips for getting citizenship applications processed with minimal delays. 

Freedmen are basing their rights to CN citizenship on the 1866 Treaty, which was signed after the Civil War. The treaty dictated terms to the CN because it allied with the Confederacy.

In support of its countersuit, the Interior alleges Article IX of the treaty provided, and the CN agrees, that all Freedmen “who have been liberated by voluntary act of their former owner or by law, as well as all free colored persons who were in the country at the commencement of the rebellion, and are now residents therein, or who may return within six months, and their descendants, shall have all the rights of native Cherokee…” Also in November 1866, the CN amended its constitution to comply with treaty. 

The Interior is also asking the court to rule that the treaty provided Freedmen and their descendants with “all the rights of native Cherokees,” including the right to citizenship; that the Five Tribes Act and other statutes did not repeal the 1866 Treaty; and that the March 3, 2007, Cherokee constitutional amendment is “inconsistent with the treaty.”

In May, CN Attorney General Todd Hembree filed for a declaratory judgment against the Interior, asserting the treaty “did not guarantee to Freedmen and their descendants eternal, unimpeachable rights to citizenship within the Cherokee Nation.” Additionally, Hembree’s complaint seeks a judgment declaring that the treaty “does not bestow upon…Freedmen a right to citizenship within the Cherokee Nation that cannot be altered by the Cherokee Constitution.”    SO THEN:  Just because the Federal Govt helped with healthcare doesn't mean they have to....keep giving it? 

Hembree said he looks forward to having “all interested parties in the same courtroom and getting a definitive resolution to this matter.” 

Pechanga Corruption: Prosecution RESTS Will the Naming of Names Commence?

The prosecution rested today in the trial of a former accountant for the Pechana Band of Luiseno Indiansand an ex-insurance broker, who are accused of stealing about $4 million from the Temecula-based tribe by diverting funds reserved for insurance coverage.



James William Riley, 48, of Murrieta and Ryan Jay Robinson, 41, of Temecula were indicted in February 2010 on multiple felony charges stemming from a scam that the pair allegedly perpetrated between 2005 and 2007.

Riley, a former insurance broker and partner at Murrieta-based Riley, Garrison & Associates, could face 20 years in prison and six-figure fines if convicted of three counts each of grand theft, commercial bribery and money laundering. Robinson, the Pechanga tribe's former chief financial officer, is facing up to seven years behind bars if convicted of grand theft and three counts of bribery.

According to Riley's attorney, Souley Diallo, his client never committed a crime, and the prosecution's case boils down to a misunderstanding of complex financial arrangements. Chris Jensen, Robinson's legal counsel, acknowledged that his client received tens of thousands of dollars in cashier's checks from Riley, but said there's no evidence that the funds were part of a bribe or arose from a conspiracy to rip off the tribe.

The men's trial began July 11, and Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Jeanne Roy called her final witness this morning. Defense witnesses' testimony is expected to conclude Monday or Tuesday.

Last week, Roy displayed copies of documents drawn up by Riley that revealed how, in a one-month span in 2006, premiums on an insurance policy for the Pechanga Development Corp. went from $555,000 to $1.32 million. The prosecutor alleged the sum was artificially inflated by the defendant, who pocketed $410,000 in ``fees'' from the transaction.



Roy alleged Riley and Robinson began scamming the tribe shortly after Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. Commercial insurance rates went through the roof following the disaster, enabling the defendants to justify exorbitant insurance costs from which they were profiting, Roy said, alleging that Riley lived a lavish lifestyle while his co-defendant used $190,000 in ill-gotten gains to pay off gambling debts.



Riley is free on $1 million bail, and Robinson is free on a $120,000 bond.

LET THE DEFENSE BEGIN. NAME NAMES...

On Nelson Mandela's 94th Birthday, Mark Macarro of Pechanga, STILL practices APARTHEID. Two differing legacies.

Happy 94th birthday to Nelson Mandela.  It's been 18 years since he led the African National Congress to overturn the apartheid rule of DeKlerk's National Government.  He brought that nation together in peace, while others looked for retribution.

Sad to see that APARTHEID is still alive here in California.    We wrote about it   Here in Does Mark Macarro’s Tribal Council Practice Apartheid       Working with the Masiel Crime Family, allottees of the original Pechanga reservation are not allowed to use drinking fountains and bathrooms that are public to the reservation. Forget about the BACK of the bus, they can't even get on the bus withou an invitation.

While we celebrate the life of a great man, we should MOCK the life of Pechanga Chairman Macarro.

RELATED STORIES:

Mark Macarro’s Segregation on the REZ

Hunter family Disenrollment

Apis/Manuela Miranda Disenrollment

Francisca Leivas Crime Family FOUR GENERATIONS LONG

Wall Street Journal Discovers Native America: Cherokee Tribe Fights With Slave's KIN

Well, I guess better late than never and they are ten years late.  The NYT is only six months ahead.  YES, the Cherokee had slaves.  The real Cherokee, not the fake Elizabeth Warren kind.

Subscription required to view the whole article: An old dispute about whether the descendants of slaves freed by the Cherokee Nation more than a century ago qualify as members of the tribe is heating up again in a federal court.

The Cherokee Nation abolished slavery in 1863, and three years later it signed a treaty with the U.S. granting tribal rights to the Cherokee's freed slaves, or "Freedmen," many of whom had migrated with the tribe decades earlier to present-day Oklahoma. But the Oklahoma-based Cherokee tribe, which has more than 310,000 members, later narrowed its citizenship criteria, excluding many descendants of the Freedmen and rendering them ineligible

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303292204577519000907248734.html

Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro's Wife's Firm Has Taken $1 MILLION For Lobbying Fees From The Tribe

I think it's interesting that the wife of the tribal chairman of Pechanga, Mark Macarro can get $1 million for her lobbying firm,IETAN CONSULTING, which we've written about before.

Is it any wonder that Macarro's former pals from the Corrupt Pechanga People (CPP) went after him in a recall attempt?

So let's see, Macarro draws his per capita check from the tribe (grown larger by the two disenrollments of large family and kept big by an unconstitutional moratorium) his tribal chairman salary (AND HUGE EXPENSE ACCOUNT) and then wets his beak from the Pechanga money his wife shares as a principal.

How EFFECTIVE are the lobbying efforts? Well, the tribe and it's million dollar lobbyists LOST their water rights bill efforts against three family representatives of allottees who parked their car outside the front door of their motel. NICE SPENDING. It's interesting to note that Pechanga is more than 10% of IETAN'S retainer fees. Who needs who more? Pechanga, or Holly Cook Macarro

SEE IETAN'S Income here:

IETAN LOBBYING 2012

IETAN LOBBYING INCOME 2011

Interesting to note that they lobby FOR HUMAN RIGHTS:

Hoh Tribe $20,000 - Human Rights

While at the SAME time taking money from tribes that VIOLATE the Human Rights of their own people:

Chukchansi Economic Development Auth $280,000 - Casinos/Gambling

Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians $260,000 -

Redding Rancheria $ 80,000 -

WOW...

New Blog Pala Watch Continues to Show Evidence as to How Chairman Robert Smith Mishandled Disenrollments. Documents Galore

Our friends who were stripped of their citizenship at Pala have their own blog up and running.  They continue to show documentation, or what is knows as PROOF of their right to belong.

Robert Smith of Pala needs to be shown for the jerk he is.  Take the time to visit:

PALA WATCH

Can Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro Bring The Tribe Together, Now That One Mastermind of the Disenrollments, Former Chairwoman Jennie Miranda is OUT for Stealing?

Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians Chairman Mark Macarro has a golden opportunity to right a serious wrong in his tribe as he gets re-elected for another term.
We all know that Jennie Miranda, former chairwoman of the Pechanga tribe, has now been disenfranchised for cheating the tribe, along with her son and others. The elderly Miranda, sister to sitting councilman Andrew Masiel, head of the Native American Caucus of the Democratic Party, was one of the leaders of the movement to disenroll rightful members of the tribe, including the Hunter family.
One wonders why ALL the descendents of Francisca Leivas have not been disenrolled for actions against the tribe.
The story of disenrollment has been told in two television reports: KNBC’s Without A Tribe and KCBS 2 Los Angeles just reported on the Pala Disenrollment and Pechanga too.
MR. MACARRO, Stand up and do what is right, and your legacy in Indian Country as a leader will be ensured. Bring a tribe together. We KNOW that the Masiel-Basquez crime family is responsible. THEY should be outcast. Your ancestors called our ancestors 'auntie'. YOU know what is the right thing to do.

Happy Birthday to Bill Cosby: He Stood Up for Disenrolled Chukchansi People by Canceling His Show

Bill Cosby is 75 years old today.  He's given us decades of entertainment.   But to many native Americans that have been harmed by their tribes, he's a beacon of hope.   Many performers, such as George Lopez, talk about civil rights, yet they perform as venues that have violated the civil and human rights of their people.  


Here's the story on Mr. Cosby from 2007:

Bill Cosby has canceled his Sept. 2 appearance at the Chukchansi Gold
Resort & Casino because of a dispute between the casino and an outside
group over the tribe's efforts to get rid of some members.

That group wrote a letter to Cosby to explain how it is upset with the
Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, owners of the Coarsegold
casino, for removing people from its membership rolls.

"The letter was written to stop these performers from coming and supporting
the tribes for doing what they are doing to the people," says Laura Wass, a
Fresno-based American Indian activist who is a member of the group that
sent the letter.

Wass says Cosby was not singled out for any particular reason. He is just
the first of several performers scheduled to appear at Chukchansi who have
been sent letters regarding the dispute.


THANK YOU, Mr. COSBY for Standing Up When It Counts

Did a Pechanga Board Member Sign Off on Robinson's Invoices?

That s what the defendant's lawyer said in court today. Diallo said he did not dispute that Riley gave Robinson what he called substantial amounts of money. He said it was to help Robinson through a divorce in 2005 and then, in 2006, as a gift to help him buy a business. He said there would be testimony that Riley had no knowledge of Robinson’s purported gambling problems. He also said Robinson did not unilaterally sign off on the invoices; they also required board member approval. Wasn't Robinson going out with a PDC member?

Chukchansi Restructures Debt after Defaulting on Payments

The Fresno Bee continues to report on the actions of the Chukchansi tribe, which now moves into a shady area. PAYDAY LOANS

When you owe a great deal of money, it's easier to get a new deal.  Those people that Chukchansi disenrolled won't be able to get new terms on their debt.    A new financing plan for the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino will push the payback on loans taken out by the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians to 2020.

More than $300 million in loans that were supposed to mature later this year were restructured in May to allow the tribe a longer-term payback, but at a higher interest rate. It will raise the overall financing costs, but it's unclear by how much.

The Chukchansi incurred a debt of $310 million to build its massive hotel and casino project 40 miles north of Fresno on Highway 41.

The new arrangement involved a series of transactions:

When bondholders with about $303.1 million of the debt agreed to a new payment plan, the tribe paid off nearly $40 million in notes with $30 million in cash. The tribe then exchanged $270 million in old notes for $250.4 million in new financing, according to Standard & Poor's Leveraged Commentary & Data division.

Winnemem Wintu Tribal Chief Caleen Sisk Has to STARVE herself to Get A Meeting With Virgil Atkins of the BIA.

Bureau of Indian Affairs and Winnemem Wintu Tribal Chief Caleen Sisk will discuss issues regarding tribal recognition to protect sacred sites and ceremonies 

On Friday, July 6th, Dr. Virgil Akins, Superintendent, BIA of Northern California agreed to meet with Winnemem Wintu Tribal Chief and Spiritual Leader, Caleen Sisk to discuss the issues surrounding a ‘technical correction’ to restore the tribe’s status as a federally recognized tribe. 

The tribe lost their recognition due to a bureaucratic error in the mid-80s, and the California State Assembly, through AJR -39, and the California Native American Heritage Commission have long urged the federal government to restore that recognition. 

The meeting, scheduled for Wednesday July 11th, will end the twenty-four day fast of Chief Sisk and her nephew Arron Sisk, who have sought the BIA’s intervention into the U.S. Forest Service’s inability to protect the Tribe’s recent Coming of Age Ceremony on the McCloud River arm of Shasta Lake. 

At previous Coming of Age ceremonies for the tribe’s young women, the Forest Service has only enforced voluntary closures, which many recreational boaters have ignored – leading to well documented racial slurs, harassment, and abusive language (http://vimeo.com/39867112) 

For six years, the Tribe has asked the Forest service for a mandatory closure of the area because of the harassment, but Forest Service officials say no law allows them to do it. The Tribe cites the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the 2008 Farm Bill sec. 8104, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples signed by President Obama as more than enough authority, but Regional Forester Randy Moore stated that the tribe is not a ‘federally recognized’ tribe and therefore the provisions in those authorities do not apply. 

After a great deal of public pressure, a mandatory closure of the river was issued this year for ‘safety’ reasons, but the Forest Service said they had no authority to close off the land area to anyone that wished to enter because the tribe was not federally recognized. During past ceremonies the tribe not only suffered harassment from boaters, but also disruptions of the ceremony by fishermen walking through the ceremonial grounds, and curiosity seekers coming into camp. 

Because of the Forest Service’s lack of authority to issue a full mandatory closure of the area, Spiritual and Tribal Leader Sisk has been fasting and praying since Monday, June 18th, that the Forest Service, BIA, or whoever has the authority to grant the tribes request for full closure of their ceremonial sites during times of ceremony, come forward and do so. 

“That campground was my grandfather’s land that they took and never compensated us. They can’t even show the papers that show how they got it,” Sisk said. “And now all we’re asking for in return is four days of peace and dignity for ceremony.” 

“It’s not too much to ask for,” she said. 


WHAT DOES THE BIA DO?

Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA) Accepts Snoqualmie Appeal

The Snoqualmie Emergency Interim Tribal Council (SEITC), elected by the people of the Snoqualmie Tribe has seen their election failed to be recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.   It seems the worthless BIA have seen fit to keep a council that has overstayed their constitutionally mandated term.   Is that squatters rights?

Newly elected chairmwoman Carolyn Lubenau seeks to have the IBIA overturn the decision.

The Decision discusses principles of noninterference by BIA in internal tribal matters and concludes that BIA "will not recognize the [May 13 and 20] membership. . and upcoming [June 2] special meeting. We also will not recognize [SEITC] as a legitimate tribal government. We will not recognize the results of the election or any action at a meeting on June 2, 2012, nor will we fund, assist, or provide any administrative support for the June 2, 2012, meeting." Decision at 1.

Has anyone figured out what the BIA does except screw up tribal matters?

Chukchansi Lawsuit: BIA Illegally Approved Constitution at Picayune Rancheria

The Fresno Bee continues to find space for Native American issues.  Their reporter Marc Benjamin has the story on a lawsuit against the U.S. for illegally approving a tribal constitution:

A Chukchansi tribal family is suing the United States government, claiming the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians membership rolls and constitution were illegally approved decades ago by Chukchansi who did not own land on the rancheria.


The Ramirez family, which filed a claim last month in U.S. District Court in San Jose, says it was the only Chukchansi family with land on the rancheria when a lawsuit settlement re-established the tribe and 16 others in California. Thus, the suit alleges, the Ramirezes were the only family that legally could authorize Chukchansi's membership rolls and constitution.

In the suit, the Ramirezes are seeking greater "recognition," which could include naming family members to the tribal council, said Dennis Cota, the family's lawyer.

Andrew Bluth, a lawyer representing the Chukchansi tribe in the federal lawsuit, said he did not have authorization from tribal officials to comment on it.

Tribal membership is a controversial issue for the Chukchansi, with tribal councils voting in recent years to disenroll members over bloodlines. The growing animosity has sparked disputes over recent tribal elections and a physical confrontation this year at the tribal offices.

The Ramirez lawsuit is a new wrinkle in an already-complicated issue.

The Chukchansi were among more than 40 tribes disbanded by the California Rancheria Act in 1958. Seventeen were restored with the settlement in 1983 of a lawsuit known as the Tillie Hardwick judgments. Tillie Hardwick was a Northern California Indian who, in 1979, challenged the Rancheria Act to re-establish her status as an American Indian and her home as a tribal site.

According to the Ramirez lawsuit, when the Chukchansi tribe was re-established, five members of the Ramirez family served on the provisional tribal council, but then the family matriarch, Maryan Ramirez, passed away. Mona Bragdon, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, declined a request by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to organize the tribe.

At that point, members of the Wyatt family began lobbying BIA to work with them, the lawsuit said.

Eventually, the BIA allowed Wyatt family members to take over.

Jury Selection Underway In the Trial of James Riley and Ryan Robinson in Pechanga Grand Theft Case. Money Pales in Comparison to What Pechanga Has STOLEN from Tribal Members

Jury selection concluded for the day Thursday in a trial for two former Pechanga tribal employees accused of diverting $4 million in insurance funds into their personal bank accounts.  $4 million is 100 times less than what the Pechanga Tribe has stolen from it's own members.


Prospective jurors were ordered back to court Monday.

James Riley, 48, of Corona and Ryan Robinson, 41, of Temecula are each charged with grand theft and commercial burglary.

Riley is additionally charged with money laundering, according to court documents. He faces 15 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Robinson -- the Pechanga tribe's former chief financial officer -- faces 10 years.

We are still waiting to hear if there will be charges in a theft of Pechanga slot machines.  Former Pechanga Chairwoman, Jennie Miranda has been dealt with at tribal level.   Miranda is the brother of Andrew Masiel, head of the Native American Caucus of the Democratic Party.

Happy Independence Day, America! Thousands of Native Americans Are Fighting For Their Rights

Two hundred and thirty six years ago, some of our greatest patriots created a document that has stood the test of time.

Independence Day 2011 marks the 7th year of termination for the Pablo Apish descendents from the Manuela Miranda family and the 5th year for the family of Original Pechanga Allottee Paulina Hunter, who Pechanga's expert proved was indeed Pechanga Indian.  It's been more than a DECADE for Moratorium people. We'd like to wish all readers across the county a very happy 4th of July.

We will continue to fight for our rights as Pechanga people and continue to work for the rights of all disenfranchised Native Americans.    America's independence was not won overnight and this struggle of ours, can't be won overnight either.

We must continue to educate our politicians and our local citizenry at every opportunity.   We've had some successes and success breeds success.   We need more friends and family to get involved and help keep the volume of the injustices perpetrated on Indian people...BY Indan people, mainly the corrupt tribal councils that proceed in stripping civil and human rights from Indian people across our country.

Please HELP us.  How?  By passing this blog along to your friends, by visiting here often and by sharing the link http://originalpechanga.com/  on your Facebook and MySpace pages.   You can help us be more visible and increased visibility is one way for us to combat the excessive amounts of money that gaming tribes have.    We have already forced Pechanga to spend more money than they ever dreamed and we've shown their lies to Congress, causing them to lose an important water rights issue.    We are currently working on sanctions that the BIA Director Amy Deutschke told our teams were possible.   We expect that to have an effect.  

Happy 4th of July!

Santa Ysabel casino Files For Bankruptcy, Owes County Three Million

SAN DIEGO -- Amid a long-running dispute with San Diego County over $3 million in unpaid fees, the Santa Ysabel Resort and Casino filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday, raising questions over whether the county will get all of its money.

The issue started in 2007, when the facility opened with an agreement it would pay the county $600-thousand every year for infrastructure, law enforcement and other services. But according to a 2011 judgement, the Santa Ysabel Band of Mission Indians never paid, equalling a $3 million bill.

While both sides bicker over whether the tribe's money is eligible for the county, it filed for bankruptcy to "relieve the Casino's financial distress, reorganize its debt and restructure the business", according to court documents.

The tribe's bankruptcy filing lists 50 creditors, with the county owed the most, more than $3 million.  It also owes the California Gambling Control Commission $100-thousand.  State officials tell Fox 5 the tribe is "delinquent" in its payments, but would not elaborate.

Tribal officials declined to comment, but have said in court paying the county could force the casino to close. County attorney Tom Bunton said Tuesday he wasn't sure how the bankruptcy would affect the dispute.

"Hopefully with the bankruptcy we'll get some financial information from the tribe," Bunton said, "We expected the tribe to pay.  It's unfortunate they have not done so."

Department of Interior Files for Injunction Against Cherokee Nation For Denying Freedmen Their Rightful Place in The Tribe

It looks like the BIA have finally gotten off their lazy asses and have responded to the Cherokee Nation's lawsuit.   We have seen the BIA stand idly by while violence was fomented at Chukchansi, while Pala ignored their limp-wristed recommendation to keep rightful members in the tribe and completely ignored the tribal constitutional violations by Mark Macarro and his ilk at the Pechanga Reservation in Temecula.


They stood up for the Freedmen, whose ancestors were dragged as property on the infamous "Trail of Tears" the Cherokee bring up so often (while never mentioning their slaves that died with them)

The U.S. Department of the Interior asked a federal judge for declaratory judgment and an injunction against the Cherokee Nation on Monday in an attempt to prevent the tribe from denying Cherokee freedmen's descendants citizenship in the tribe, court records show.

The counterclaim follows a claim filed in federal court in Tulsa in May by the Cherokee Nation.

That claim was seeking declaratory judgment, as well.

The claims could lead to the end of a 2009 lawsuit that is the latest legal attempt to end the issue, which dates to 1866, when the U.S. government and the Cherokees signed a treaty that gave the former slaves of Cherokees citizenship and rights within the tribe.

The Cherokee Nation's argument is that the treaty did not give the freedmen perpetual citizenship rights and that the tribe, as a sovereign nation, should be able to alter its constitution.

Additionally, the Cherokee Nation asserts that the United States has violated the treaty numerous times, leaving its contents open for change.

The Interior Department argues in its counterclaim Monday that the treaty is clear in guaranteeing the freedmen's descendants all the rights of native Cherokees.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker said movement in the case is good for the tribe.

"Now we can move forward," he said in a statement Monday.
"We have all sides at the table, and all issues will be presented. We can finally get a definitive ruling."
Baker's stance on the issue since his election last year: No comment pending litigation.

But he has appeared to endear himself to the freedmen descendants, who are thought to have voted overwhelmingly for him in the last election.

Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree has said his job in the freedmen issue is solely to protect the Cherokee Nation Constitution, which changed several years ago after a tribal vote to remove the freedmen descendants from citizenship.

"I look forward to having all involved parties in the same courtroom," Hembree said in a statement. "We can finally get a definitive resolution in this matter."

Hembree's predecessor, former tribal Attorney General Diane Hammons, said in November that a court ruling in the case is necessary to define the tribe's sovereignty.

"You see, just dropping the ... case would solve almost nothing," she said. "You would still have all those competing factors and would not have a federal court resolution on what the applicable provisions of the Treaty of 1866 really meant at the time and mean today."

Harold Monteau Opinion: Indian Civil Rights Act a FAILURE

An opinion piece from Harold Monteau in Indian Country Today on the FAILURE of the Indian Civil Rights Act.

The Indian Civil Rights Act has been a dismal failure, if one considers its original intent; to protect tribal members and others subject to tribal jurisdiction from arbitrary and capricious acts by the tribal governing body and individual tribal officials. That is, unless a tribe has adopted the rights set out in the ICRA as substantive tribal law with remedies beyond the restrictive “habeas corpus” Federal Court relief. Some tribes have adopted the substantive rights in the ICRA but extend civil remedies beyond the restrictive “habeas corpus” and even allow for monetary damages (only where the tribe is covered by insurance or other such indemnification). Those tribes are in the minority. Unfortunately many tribes still hide behind the tribe’s sovereign immunity as they commit arbitrary rights violations upon their own membership and others.

Original Pechanga’s Blog Native American Hall of Fame Read More HERE

Robert Smith, Chairman of Pala the Newest Inductee into the Native American Hall of Shame

It's something we created a few years ago, Original Pechanga’s Blog Native American Hall of Fame. Today, we have the displeasure of adding a new member: Pala Chairman ROBERT SMITH: The portly chairman of the Pala Band has overseen the stripping of tribal citizenship from 154 people. Sadly, we've found out that one of the original eight he had terminated, died from consequences of alcohol abuse, exascerbated by the despair brought on by the termination of her family. Smith has ignored the Bureau of Indian Affairs admonition that the Marguerite Brittain family should remain in the tribe based on their family proving they belong. Smith is on record as saying he won't show the "evidence" he has because "we are a sovereign nation and we don't have to" during an interview by Cristy Fajardo of KCBS TV. Mr. Smith, HAVE YOU NO SHAME?

Pala Disenrollments Decried From the Pulpit. Why Hasn't The Pechanga Priest Spoken Out Against Injustice?

We heard that Pastor Randy, from the Word of God Fellowship, located on the Pala Rez, is not afraid to speak truth to power.

In his sermon today, he told his flock that the disenrollments that Robert Smith inflicted  on the Brittain Descendents was wrong.  He counseled to not get involved with liars, because they can bring you down morally.   Pray for Smith, but don't enable them.

Even good people can be caught up with bad people.  We found that out at Pechanga, when tribal members did not stand up to the CPP (corrupt Pechanga People) and they found themselves cheated out of MILLIONS that members of the Pechanga Crime Family took from the tribe.

It makes one wonder what the Catholic priest who serve Pechanga and Pala are thinking.  To they think it's okay for people like John Macarro of Pechanga and Theresa Nieto to serve as eucharistic ministers.   People like John Macarro would threaten allottees with trespass if they show up to church univited.?  Theresa Nieto has engaged in heinous acts, stripping the citizenship from lifelong members.

She bears responsibility in the death of one of the original eight who were disenrolled.   The despair Smith and Nieto caused has now  ended up with it's FIRST DEATH. 
   

EVIL, call thyself....CHAIRMAN