Chief Glenn Marshall: SENTENCED

Disgraced former Chief Glenn Marshall of the Cape Cod-based Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe was sentenced in US District Court in Boston today to 41 months in prison, ordered to pay $383,000 in restitution to the tribal council (the amount he pled guilty to embezzling), and an additional $84,600 in restitution to the US Social Security Administration for collecting fraudulent disability payments. He must surrender to authorities on June 8, and, after serving his sentence, he will face three additional years of supervised release. Denise Lavoie at the Associated Press has an excellent summary here:

Marshall, 59, successfully led the push for the tribe to gain federal recognition as part of a plan to build a casino. He stepped down in 2007 after it became public that he was a convicted rapist and had lied about his military past.

In February, Marshall pleaded guilty to five charges, including making $60,000 in illegal campaign contributions to members of Congress, embezzling $383,000 in tribal funds, fraudulently receiving nearly $85,000 in Social Security disability benefits and filing false tax returns.

A much more in-depth article/profile of Mr. Marshall appeared in the Cape Cod Times just prior to his sentencing on May 3, in which reporter George Brennan (assisted by ace Stephanie Vosk) shows why newspapers are still relevant and worth buying:

He told inflated stories knowing there were people in East Falmouth who could poke holes in them, people who knew he was sitting in a classroom at Lawrence High in 1968 when he claimed to be fighting off the North Vietnamese in the Siege of Khe Sanh, arguably the most famous battle of the Vietnam War.

He did not receive a Silver Star or five Purple Hearts, as a lobbyist for the tribe reported to a Connecticut newspaper shortly before his resignation.

I first wrote about the Mashpee Wampanoag in 2007, and speculated that besides our friend Kevin Ring, former Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.), and former Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) were involved in this scandal. But I added a cautionary note, and closed with a simple prediction:

If Congressmen were being investigated, I'd expect the Public Integrity Unit out of Washington, DC to be demanding Mashpee council records [rather than the US Attorney in Boston].

Mashpee Wampanoag. I'm sure you'll hear about them again.

Mr. Doolittle is certainly a focus of the Public Integrity Unit. As far as Mr. Pombo is concerned, the ACR Blog has no information indicating he is the subject of any active federal criminal investigation, but, due to his extensive involvement in this case, it is plausible that investigators have examined Mr. Pombo actions. Also note that the government is very careful in its choice of words in the Government's Sentencing Memo (.pdf):

The breadth of his [Marshall's] criminal activity – ranging from a campaign finance scheme aimed at corrupting the U.S. government’s tribal recognition process, to his embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Tribe – evince a ready willingness to flout the law when it did not suit his interests.

Emphasis added

Note the emphasis added - the government does not say Mr. Marshall corrupted the US government's tribal recognition process, they say he aimed to corrupt it. If prosecutors had said Mr. Marshall had corrupted the process, or even if Mr Marshall had pled guilty to bribery (which he did not), then the ACR Blog would be more willing to entertain the notion that Mr. Pombo and Mr. Doolittle (and perhaps others) are in legal jeopardy due to this case.

The Sentencing Memo describes Team Abramoff's role with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe:

Based on the political consultant's recommendation, Marshall hired Jack Abramoff, who ultimately advised Marshall that in order to advance its recognition effors, the Tribe needed to make significant political contributions to certain Members of Congress so that they might build political pressure on the DOI [Department of Interior] to act favorably on the petition.

Thereafter, in consultation with Abramoff's team and the Tribe's Boston-based lobbyist, the Tribe's political consultant recommended on numerous occasions to Marshall which state and federal legislators should receive campaign contributions.

When the Sentencing Memo mentions "Abramoff's team", the ACR Blog reads "Kevin Ring". After all, Mr. Ring's actions with regard to the Mashpee Wampanoag appear in Mr. Ring's indictment (.pdf).

There is one last item of interest in the Sentencing Memo. Mr. Marshall did not provide "substantial assistance" to the government - although the government acknowledges his "cooperation" insofar "as the defendant has made himself available for interview and truthfully answered the government’s questions." That does not sound to me like someone who is spilling his guts to anyone. Messrs. Ring, Pombo and Doolittle may sleep better tonight than they otherwise would. But don't be surprised if the Mashpee Wampanoag story resurfaces and one or all of these people are implicated.