Plea talks continue in tribal funds case

Plea negotiations are ongoing for three members of the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes and an attorney accused of using an unofficial election to gain access to tribal funds.

U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell agreed Thursday to continue a trial scheduled to begin Aug. 23 to allow more time for negotiations in the case. The judge set a Sept. 2 status conference, at which time defense attorneys are expected to inform her which defendants, if any, plan to enter into plea agreements with the government.

If necessary, a mid-November trial will then be scheduled, Campbell said.

Marlinda Moon, Wendover; Sammy Blackbear, Salt Lake City; and Miranda Wash, Grantsville; and attorney Duncan Steadman, South Jordan, are charged with one count each of theft from an Indian tribal organization and five counts each of bank fraud and aiding and abetting.

Michael Jaenish, Blackbear's attorney, said federal prosecutors have made his client an offer to resolve the case short of trial. However, Jaenish told Campbell, "At this point he has shown no inclination to accept that offer."

Jaenish said he will sit down with Blackbear and go over the offer in full detail prior to the Sept. 2 hearing.

The additional defendants are expected to follow Blackbear's lead, said Steadman's attorney, Deirdre Gorman.

Apparently spurred by division over the storage of nuclear waste on tribal lands, a splinter group opposed to storage held an illegitimate election in which Moon was named chairwoman, Blackbear vice chairman and Wash secretary. According to the December indictment, Steadman then notarized a certification of tribal election that was allegedly used to access some tribal bank accounts and open new ones, to which they allegedly transferred other tribal money.

Tribal chairman Leon D. Bear was charged in a separate indictment with two counts of theft from Indian tribal organizations, one count of theft concerning federally funded programs and three counts of fraud and false statements.

He is scheduled to go to trial on Nov. 3 on the charges, in which he is accused of paying himself off with tribal money through various schemes.

Bear has been a vocal proponent of nuclear waste storage on the Goshute reservation and, in 1997, signed a lease agreement with Private Fuel Storage to bring the waste to Utah's western desert. PFS's application is currently under review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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E-mail: awelling@desnews.com