Probably not too many people noticed this item in yesterday’s Boston Herald:
The former head of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe was charged today with making illegal campaign contributions to members of Congress, embezzling funds from his tribe, filing false tax returns and fraudulently receiving Social Security disability benefits all in connection to efforts to win official U.S. recognition of tribal status.
Glenn Marshall, the former tribal chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag, has been under scrutiny for several years now. So what’s it all about? Well, settle in for a long winter night's tale...
Members of Cape Cod’s Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe are believed to be the descendants of the Indians who greeted the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving. Things pretty much went downhill for them from that point onward. By the end of the 20th century, the tribe consisted of approximately 1200 members and had been waiting for 25 years to receive federal recognition. That’s when the tribe elected a new chairman, Glenn Marshall, who formed a partnership with Herb Strather, a former Detroit casino operator who offered to "help" the Mashpee move their application forward in exchange for a cut of any future casino operations.
After using the services of another lobbyist who did not produce the desired results, Strather introduced Marshall to Jack Abramoff, and the tribe contracted with Jack in late 2003. It didn’t take much to convince Marshall, after 25 years of patient waiting, all to no avail, that perhaps the road to success was greased with political favors. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Strather set Marshall up with what amounted to his own personal slush fund financed through a Strather LLC called AtMashpee.
(As a side note here, it’s probably useful to understand that Strather had a bribery conviction in the ‘70s in Michigan, which made it difficult for him to hold any sort of ownership interest in a casino. As a result, he operated more as a developer than manager/owner in the casino world. Once the Mashpee were finally recognized, Strather brought in another casino operator, Sol Kerzner. Throughout his relationship with the Mashpee, though, Strather referred to his involvement as "philanthropy.")
To accommodate his new business relationship with Strather and Abramoff, Marshall reactivated an old, defunct tribal account known as the Mashpee Fisherman’s Association, making himself the signatory on the account. From 2003 through 2007, AtMashpee deposited over $4 million into the Fisherman’s Association account. Lobbyists, consultants and lawyers were paid from that account, of course, but so were members of Congress.
Meanwhile, in early 2003, then Congressman Richard Pombo had just ascended to the chairmanship of the House Resources Committee, which oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Suddenly, donations to his political action committee, the aptly named Rich PAC, skyrocketed.
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The Mashpee Wampanoag application for federal recognition which had languished from 1975 through 2003 was suddenly on the fast track. With the assistance of Richard Pombo, the request gained "active consideration" status in 2005; preliminary approval came in 2006, final approval in early 2007. It's truly amazing how fast the gears of government can turn when a powerful House chairman is on board with your cause.
Later, in 2005, when the FBI announced that it was investigating the tribe's finances, the LA Times took note of Mashpee contributions to Pombo:
In all, at least $20,000 in Mashpee money flowed into Pombo’s coffers soon after a September 2003 meeting the congressman had with [Interior Secretary Gale] Norton and R. Lee Fleming, who oversees the Native American recognition program.
The two-week run of donations accounted for about 5% of Rich PAC’s roughly $400,000 in revenue for the 2003-04 election cycle, according to two databases of political contributions. [...]
This spring [2005], Marshall and other tribal members made more payments, including at least $20,000 to two political committees controlled by Pombo.
What raised eyebrows about the Mashpee donations, though, were the financial circumstances of the donors.
But who actually provided the funds? Was Alycia Marshall a student at the time she wrote a check for $2,000 after-tax dollars? On their salaries of just more than $41,000, did both Marshall and Shawn Hendricks have so much extra cash? What about Marshall's stepdaughter [a hairdresser] and Desire Moreno [a social worker]?
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Well, now we know the answer to that question and many more. In the information filed yesterday (pdf), federal prosecutors laid out the charges:
- In or about 2003, MARSHALL became aware that federal law prohibited corporations, including the Tribal Council, from making contributions to federal campaigns.
- In order to disguise the source of the contributions, MARSHALL solicited various individuals to act as straw contributors, including members of his family and officers of the Tribal Council. In each instance, MARSHALL asked the straw contributor to write a check to a candidate’s reelection committee, insisting that the contribution was necessary to further the Tribe’s recognition effort and promising the straw contributor that the Tribal Council would reimburse him or her for the contribution. MARSHALL himself also made such straw contributions.
- From in or about 2003 to 2007, MARSHALL caused the Tribal Council through payments from the Fisherman’s Association account, to reimburse straw contributors a total of $49,950.00 in federal campaign contributions, and another $10,550.00 in straw contributions to elected state officials. MARSHALL paid all of the reimbursements by check or cash drawn from the Tribal Council funds in the Fisherman’s Association account.
- On or about the dates set forth below, in the District of Massachusetts, the defendant, GLENN A. MARSHALL, being an officer of a corporation, namely the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council, Inc., did knowingly and willfully consent to contributions and expenditures by that corporation in connection with an election in which Members of Congress were to be voted for, in an amount greater than $25,000 in calendar year 2005, to wit: by causing contributions to be made to the campaign committees of Members of Congress and a federal political action committee based on promises that the straw contributors would be reimbursed with Tribal Council funds and in fact reimbursing such straw contributors, for the following contributions:
Date | Recipient | Amount of Contribution |
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March 7, 2005 | Political Action Committee A | $8,000 |
April 19, 2005 | Campaign Committee of Member of Congress A | $4,000 |
April 21, 2005 | Campaign Committee of Member of Congress B | $12,000 |
September 28, 2005 | Campaign Committee of Member of Congress A | $800 |
October 14, 2005 | Campaign Committee of Member of Congress A | $900 |
October 17, 2005 | Campaign Committee of Member of Congress C | $6,000 |
All in violation of Title 2, United States Code, Sections 441b and 437g(d)(1)(A)(I), and Title 18, United States Code, Section 2.
Now, it’s worth noting that Richard Pombo’s Rich PAC received $8,000 from the Mashpee Wampanoag on March 7, 2005, and Pombo’s Congressional campaign committee received $12,000 from the Mashpee Wampanoag on April 21, 2005. Clearly Richard Pombo is Member of Congress B and his Rich PAC is Political Action Committee A.
So, you’re probably saying to yourself, that’s all fine and good, but these are just allegations. Well, not so fast, my dears.
The second piece of overlooked news yesterday was that Glenn Marshall entered a guilty plea. In the plea agreement (pdf), the following terms are set forth for Marshall’s cooperation:
- Cooperation
a. Terms of Cooperation
Defendant agrees to cooperate fully with law enforcement agents and government attorneys. He must provide complete and truthful information to all law enforcement personnel. If his testimony is requested, he must testify truthfully and completely before any grand jury, and at any hearing and trial. Defendant must answer all questions put to him by any law enforcement agents or government attorneys and must not withhold any information. He must not attempt to protect any person or entity through false information or omission, or to implicate falsely any person or entity. Upon request, he must furnish all documents, objects and other evidence in his possession, custody or control that are relevant to the government’s inquiries. [...]
d. Letter Immunity
In return for Defendant’s full and truthful cooperation, the U.S. Attorney agrees not to use any information provided by Defendant pursuant to this Agreement or pursuant to the proffer letter dated October 13, 2007 (or any information directly or indirectly derived therefrom) against Defendant in any criminal case...
Did you catch that mention of the proffer letter in the immunity agreement? This deal has been in the works for over a year. Clearly, the pieces are starting to fall into place. First Abramoff, then Kevin Ring, now Marshall. Who’s next?
All I know is that if I were Richard Pombo, I’d be pretty worried right about now.