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Feds order St. Marks be reinstated

The U.S. Interior Department has ordered the Chippewa Cree Business Committee to reinstate Ken Blatt St Marks as it chair.

An order issued from Washington Friday night said St .Marks is entitled to back pay and to have his attorneys’ fees and other legal expenses reimbursed.

The department determined that there was sufficient evidence to indicate that St. Marks was removed by the tribal council because he was cooperating with federal officials in investigating widespread corruption on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation.

Several people have since been convicted or pleaded guilty to felony charges.

St. Marks is covered under the Whistleblower protection of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, said Hilary Tompkins, the Interior Department’s chief general counsel. ARRA funds designated for a water project on the reservation were looted by tribal officials, prosecutors contend, accusations to which some tribal officials and others have pleaded guilty.

St. Marks won a special election and fought for 18 months in tribal courts to get his job back. Every time courts rule in his favor, the business committee removes him again.

The tribe has 60 days to appeal to federal appeals court.

(Details in Monday’s Havre Daily News.)

 

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