Bruce Sunchild sentenced to almost 3 years prison

MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A former chairman of the Chippewa Cree tribe was sentenced to almost three years in prison Tuesday, after pleading guilty to felony charges in a wide-ranging corruption case on the Rocky Boy's Reservation.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris in Great Falls sentenced Bruce Harold Sunchild to 34 months in prison followed by three years supervised release on charges of theft, income tax evasion and accepting a bribe.

Sunchild, 69, also must pay $70,000 in restitution to the tribe and the IRS, and he is jointly responsible with other co-defendants in the case for an additional $300,090 in restitution. He has the right to appeal his sentence.

Defense attorney Mark Meyer had argued for a sentence of probation. He cited Sunchild's age and said the former tribal leader had played only a minor role in the corruption on the reservation and had no prior criminal history.

Prosecutors wanted a sentence of almost six years in prison. They described Sunchild as one of a group of "predatory opportunists" who sought to skim money from the federal government and the tribe for personal enrichment.

The case resulted from an investigation by federal prosecutors targeting the misuse of government stimulus money on the northern Montana reservation. Nine defendants have previously been sentenced in related cases.

Sunchild was indicted for taking a $25,000 vehicle as a bribe in 2011 after authorizing $300,000 in payments from the tribe to a consulting company run by a Havre businessman. He later reached a plea deal with prosecutors that included additional indictments for tax evasion and theft.

Authorities said he told the Rocky Boy's Health Clinic director in 2012 to cut his son and another person checks of $12,500 each from the clinic board's funds. Sunchild was chairman and on the health clinic's board of directors at the time.

He also pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns from 2009 through 2012.

Several other defendants in related cases are scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday and Thursday, including Shad Huston, the Havre businessman who prosecutors said bought a sport utility vehicle that he later transferred to Sunchild's daughter.

Prosecutors said Sunchild and Tony Belcourt, a former state representative and tribal committee member, authorized $300,000 in payments to a Huston-owned company, K&N Consulting.

Meyer said Tuesday that the transfer of the SUV was not a quid pro quo and that Sunchild had sought to pay for the vehicle.

Belcourt was sentenced in August to 7 1/2 years in prison for theft, bribery and tax evasion and ordered to pay $667,000 in restitution.