Chief U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp recently sentenced former Winnebago Tribal Council member Lawrence Payer to five years probation for stealing money from the tribe’s WinnaVegas Casino in Sloan, Iowa.
In addition, Camp ordered Payer to pay $36,000 in restitution. He was indicted last summer in a conspiracy to steal from a gaming establishment on Indian lands. Former tribal council member Thomas Snowball also pleaded guilty to theft from a gaming establishment on Indian lands. He will be sentenced in November.
Payer and snowball were among nine former tribal officials indicted last year by a federal grand jury for conspiring to steal more than $327,000 from the tribal casino, plus theft, wire fraud and misapplication of funds. Louis Houghton will be sentenced later this month and Charles Aldrich in September. Five others are awaiting trial: John Blackhawk, Darwin Snyder, Travis Mallory, Morgan Earth and Ramona Wolfe.
According to the federal indictment, the defendants gave themselves funds from the casino without accounting for them through the tribe’s payroll department or approving their distribution at a regular tribal council meeting.
