Man found guilty in Blackfeet fraud case
Po’ka Project was intended to help troubled Blackfeet children
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One of six administers of a federal program intended to help troubled and at-risk children on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation was found guilty of bankruptcy fraud following a jury trial in U.S. District Court in Great Falls on March 7.
Sentencing on that charge alone for Gary Joseph Conti, 67, of Three Forks, is scheduled for June 20. He is a former professor at Oklahoma State University and was the national monitor for the Po’ka Project grant and program.
U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris declared a mistrial on the remaining 27 counts of the indictment against Conti because the jury couldn’t reach a verdict. U.S. Assistant Attorney Carl Rostad said he will ask the court to set the case for re-trial.
A second administer of the Po’ka Project program was sentenced on Jan. 16. Charlotte B. New Breast, 53, of Browning, initially faced 23 counts. She pleaded guilty to a single count of theft from an Indian tribal government receiving federal grant funds on Oct. 21.
Judge Morris sentenced New Breast to three years probation, $50,000 in restitution and a special assessment of $100.
Four co-defendants have pleaded guilty. The six individuals were indicted last August on a total of 21 separate wire fraud counts, along with charges of theft, embezzlement, tax evasion and money laundering. Rostad said he intends to seek $1 million in restitution from each defendant.
According to U.S. Attorney for Montana Michael Cotter, the indictments followed a two-year investigation by the Guardians Project, a cooperative effort created in 2011 between the Department of the Interior, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service.
An indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Great Falls alleged that the six committed crimes while administering and reporting for the Blackfeet Po’ka Project, also known as the Blackfeet Children System of Care.
The Po’ka Project was initially funded with a $1 million grant in 2005 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The grant was renewed for six years with another $9 million. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also provided $300,000.
Much of the indictment is connected to fraudulent claims related to the Tribe’s in-kind or matching contributions allegedly made in an effort to maximize federal funding, Cotter said. The indictment alleges that the six individuals fabricated records and made material misrepresentations about the Tribe’s contributions.
The four co-defendants include:
• Francis Kay Onstad, 61, of Valier, a former director of the Po’ka Project, initially faced 32 counts. Onstad pleaded guilty to conspiracy, embezzlement, fraud, income tax evasion, conspiracy to violate the false claims act and theft from an Indian tribal government on Feb. 28 and faces up to 15 years if the sentences are run consecutively.
• Delyle Shanny Augare, 58, of Browning, a former assistant director of the Po’ka Project, initially faced 22 counts. Augare pleaded guilty to conspiracy, embezzlement, fraud, income tax evasion, conspiracy to violate the false claims act and theft from an Indian tribal government on Feb. 28. He faces up to 15 years if the sentences are run consecutively.
• Dorothy May Still Smoking, 64, of Browning, the former local evaluator for the Po’ka Project and a consultant working for Conti, initially faced 25 counts. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy, embezzlement, fraud and conspiracy to violate the false claims act on Feb. 28.
• Katheryn Elizabeth Sherman, 66, East Glacier, the former in-kind coordinator for the Po’ka Project, initially faced 25 counts. She has reached a plea agreement and is scheduled to enter a plea before Judge Morris on March 3.