{"id":6569,"date":"2020-11-13T22:31:32","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T22:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aboriginalbusinessmagazine.com\/?p=6569"},"modified":"2020-11-13T22:31:59","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T22:31:59","slug":"tribe-chairman-charged-with-bribery-in-casino-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aboriginalbusinessmagazine.com\/?p=6569","title":{"rendered":"Tribe chairman charged with bribery in casino development\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Philip Marcelo<\/p>\n

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n

BOSTON-The longtime chairman of a Massachusetts tribe and an architecture firm owner have been charged in a bribery scheme involving the tribe’s plans to build a resort casino, federal prosecutors said Friday.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

In this May 29, 2014 photo, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Chairman Cedric Cromwell sits behind his desk at the government center in Mashpee, Mass. (AP Photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

Cedric Cromwell is accused of using his position as chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe to extort tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from David DeQuattro, a 54-year-old Warwick, Rhode Island, resident who owns an architecture-and-design company.<\/p>\n

Both pleaded not guilty to bribery charges during a videoconference Friday. Cromwell, a 55-year-old Attleboro resident, also pleaded not guilty to extortion charges. A Boston federal court judge released them on $25,000 in unsecured bond until their next court date in December.<\/p>\n

Between 2014 and 2017, prosecutors said DeQuattro provided Cromwell with payments and other benefits valued at nearly $60,000 in exchange for nearly $5 million in construction contracts with the tribe.<\/p>\n

They said Cromwell spent all of the money on personal expenses, including payments to his mistress. DeQuattro also provided Cromwell a home gym system and paid for a weekend stay at a Boston hotel for Cromwell’s birthday, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n

“Many American Indians face a host of difficult financial and social issues,” U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling, whose office is prosecuting the case, said in a statement. “They require, and deserve, real leadership. But it appears that Cromwell’s priority was not to serve his people, but to line his own pockets.”<\/p>\n

The tribe said in a statement it is “deeply concerned” about the charges against Cromwell, who has been the prominent face of the approximately 3,000-member tribe since becoming its chairman in 2009. The tribe’s council is expected to hold an emergency meeting Friday.<\/p>\n

The Cape Cod-based tribe traces its ancestry to the Native Americans who shared a fall harvest meal with the Pilgrims in 1621.<\/p>\n

It gained federal recognition in 2007 and had more than 300 acres placed into federal trust and declared its sovereign reservation in<\/p>\n

2016 under then-President Barack Obama’s administration.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe First Light Resort and Casino plan for Taunton, Massachusetts,. Photo: First Light Resort and Casino<\/p><\/div>\n

The tribe swiftly broke ground on its planned, $1 billion First Light casino in Taunton, a city south of Boston, along with Genting Group, a major Malaysia-based casino developer.<\/p>\n

But the project was halted amid a series of legal and political setbacks, including efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to undue the tribe’s Obama-era land designations.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs said it would move to rescind the tribe’s 300-acre reservation designation and remove the land from federal trust.<\/p>\n

A federal judge in June halted the move and ordered the Interior Department to review the matter and issue new findings. The agency has appealed.<\/p>\n

President Trump has also opposed legislation passed in the Democrat-led House to protect the tribe’s reservation, regardless of what the courts decide. He’s dismissed it as a “special-interest casino bill.”<\/p>\n

The tribe and others across the country have complained the administration’s manoeuvrs set a dangerous precedent in stripping a tribe of its federally-protected lands.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Philip Marcelo THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BOSTON-The longtime chairman of a Massachusetts tribe and an architecture firm owner have been charged in a bribery scheme involving the tribe’s plans to build a resort casino, federal prosecutors said Friday. 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