In October, a U.S. federal appeals court upheld the 2013 conviction of former Mashantucket Pequot Chairman Michael Thomas. According to the New London Day, Thomas claimed his trial was unfair because he was barred from presenting evidence in his own defense. He said the purported evidence proved he had previously reimbursed all personal charges made to a tribal credit card.
But the appeals court said the evidence was irrelevant. “It is undisputed,” the court wrote, “that Thomas did not reimburse the tribe for any of the over $100,000 in personal expenses that he charged to his card between October 2007 and September 2009—despite the fact that he was not indicted until January 2013.”
Former tribal treasurer Steven Thomas, Michael Thomas’s brother, admitted falsifying time cards in 2007 and using more than $177,000 for his personal benefit. He was spared prison time because a judge deemed him to be remorseful and said he had made legitimate attempts to reform after his plea.
