Water pipe supply company pays $350K fine in corruption case

Staff and wire report

A Billings water pipe supply company created by former state legislator Tony Belcourt has paid a $350,000 fine for a scheme to defraud the Chippewa Cree Tribe.

MT Waterworks pleaded guilty in May to criminal charges that it claimed an Indian ownership preference to get federal and tribal contracts. The contracts include more than $3.3 million from the Chippewa Cree Tribe for work on a federally funded water system project.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris imposed the fine during the company's Sept. 15 sentencing hearing in Great Falls.

Federal prosecutors said Belcourt to...