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Puyallup Tribal Council suspends tribal prosecutor, fires Special Prosecutor, demands to destroy evidence
June 15, 2010
According to submitted statements and evidence, gas cards, and discounted tribal casino hotel rooms, were provided to out of town tribal members in exchange for votes, supporting candidates, Roleen Hargrove and Bill Sterud. Other evidence submitted in an election protest, shows the use dishonest scare tactics, advising Tribal Members that Council Member James Miles, wanted to cut or even take tribal members monthly Per Capita payments. Despite the evidence and protest to special investigators, the Tribal Council has decided to completely disregarded tribal election laws by letting the election results stand.
Here is a copy of the protest filed: General_Election_Protest.pdf
UPDATE October 26, 2010:
Criminal Investigation of Puyallup Tribal Council Members, General Manager of the Emerald Queen Casino and Employees of both Casino and Administration office of the Tribe.
The Puyallup Tribal Prosecutor through a Special Prosecutor, initiated an criminal investigation into the crimes of Bribery and Corruption in the Tribal Council Election of June 2010.
Although several attempts by the investigators none of the suspected conspirators would cooperate with the criminal investigation. Therefore the special prosecutor filed and received several search warrants in September in which along with tribal police, they confiscated evidence from Council Member Silvia Miler and Emerald Queen Casino General Manager, Frank Wright Jr as well as several other employees in the Tribe.
Once the suspected conspirators found out, Tribal council members including Silvia Miller, Bill Sterud, Rolleen Hardgrove, and Herman Dillon Sr. along with Frank Wright Jr. organize one of the most flagrant and deliberant acts of obstruction justice the Puyallup Tribe of Indians have ever seen before. First they suspended the tribal prosecutor, fired the Special Prosecutor, and now are demanding the evidence to destroy and the shameful tactics of using the tribal attorney s to violate tribal law and the Civil Rights of the membership of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians.
When a council member is sworn into office they swear a oath to uphold the laws of the Puyallup people, as the constitution states I do herby solemnly swear (or affirm) that I shall preserve, support, and protect the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution and by laws of the Puyallup Tribe to the best of my ability, so help me God.
According to submitted statements and evidence, gas cards and discounted tribal casino hotel rooms were provided to out of town tribal members in exchange for votes for candidates Roleen Hargrove and Bill Sterud. Other evidence submitted in an election protest, shows the use dishonest scare tactics - advising Tribal Members that Council Member James Miles wanted to cut or take away tribal members monthly Per Capita payments. Despite the evidence and protest to special investigators, the Tribal Council has decided to completely disregard tribal election laws by letting the election results stand.
Comment:
the puyallup tribe has a high number of grievances....due to the wrongful terminations of staff. what does that tell us? how much does it cost us as a tribe? does anyone know? legal matters cost alot. we have money, but our leaders are wasting it for their personal agendas....need SMART leaders, not wasteful ones. Think of our legacys, not yourself. come on we have the ability to change it....lets change it. no more talk, we have to step in as a tribe to take care of our upcoming generations. get rid of the old blood, they are elders they will be taken care of, get some new blood, that are thinking of our tribe. Tired of being embarrassed for our leadership or lack of.
Comment:
ANYBODY HEAR OF THE B.I.A.? OR THE F.B.I.? If this is all true then it must stop!!! But then... I do not know of ONE politician that is not CORRUPT in one way or another!! What ever happen to equality of human rights? I guess money really is the ROOT of ALL EVIL!! It will all eventually come out in the wash, these people can only keep up the dishonesty for so long! BAD KARMA will get them. The sad part is that these people are giving the PUYAllUP TRIBAL MEMBERSHIP a BAD NAME... right along with all the other scandals that are happening.
Comment:
So is it written somewhere in the constitution that tribal council has the authority to destroy evidence pertaining to an investigation? To me it sounds as though they are guilty and are trying to cover their own butts as well as Frank's. We have all felt there was bribery, corruption, conspiracy, and kick backs. Sylvia's son was arrested for several felony crimes, was sent to Pierce County Jail. Sylvia questions Tribal PD why they sent him there when he should be at Tribal Jail and has him transferred. Tribal council's interference is getting out of hand. Their families get special hand outs, and the rest of the membership is left out in the cold. I have also heard that Sylvia and Roleen are trying to change the constitution so that their families can dis-enroll with Puyallup, then enroll with Nisqually for the $30,000,and immediately dis-enroll from Nisqually and come back to Puyallup, requesting their dis-enrollment papers are pulled before they get processed. That is conspiracy also. I also heard that they are having a lot of off the premises meetings and not inviting all of the members of council present. What is it they have to discuss that they can't say in front of a full quorum? We as a membership need to stand together and ask them to uphold the constitution as they swore to. They are only protecting their family members and themselves as well as Frank and his clan. Frank has his pawns carefully placed throughout this tribe and has been getting away with corruption and embezzlement. He has his daughter making his deliveries and writing checks on his behalf. Oh, and speaking of checks, what happened to the investigation of his NSF checks? Using our casino as his personal ATM? Write a bad check and let it bounce? When a GM is making over $600,000 a year, and he can't live on his pay checks and per capita, that is a red flag this man should not be running our casinos! He rarely comes to work, he maliciously lies and has been stealing from us for years, yet we still have him managing our casinos? WTH? He brings in his friends, to manage the boxing events, construction, beautification manager, food companies, Asian entertainment and the list goes on & on. When is someone going to finally do something? According to the report by the outside firm in 2008, we have $40 million dollars walking out the door! I think it is much higher. The membership needs to be aware of what is going on. Don't ask council because they will just lie to you and tell you what you want to hear. Who is suppose to protect our assets? Where is the future generation's assets going? I would like to see where our money is really going. We will never find out because our internal auditor and EQC's finance director are involved as well, hiding the truth. I just hope karma bites all of them! They say, karma is a beotch. We should have higher per capita payments, but money is missing and is cushioning council's & frank's pockets.
Comment:
It's a shame that if you can't be controlled that your expendable. Many changes happen when you don't support the loudest voices; it's a shame that we would punish those that try to do a job like arrest someone that gets busted with meth and carrying a loaded gun; has a warrant out but a councilmember thinks that by controlling the court system and those that work in it; should be eliminated from their positions for trying to protect the community and the reputation of the Tribe. Watch how the micro managing will increase so that they can control everything and everyone around them and not be able to even focus on the growth and betterment of the tribe; No new businesses just the casino gas stations and less and less health care services. Beware that your not the next one out of a job.... Need to believe their beliefs or you are at risk.... With the hard times ahead instead of our tribe pulling together we have so many pulling it a part.
Comment:
We all say we want this to stop; they are plenty of tribal that say that Sylvia and Rollen need to be stopped and that we need to bring in the BIA and the FBI but that is easier said than done. It isn't until we all stand up to these people and tell them our future is worth fighting for. We have all received teachings that we take of our elders, children and 7 generations ahead but have been sitting back complaining. I do understand that these people govern with a hammer fist and if they have away to hurt you if you stand up to them they will take whatever action the need to keep us scared. Allot of us have different but need to set that aside and come together and fight for the future existence of the Puyallup Tribe. Don't allow them to push us around any longer, don't allow them to fill our minds with their lies "such as James is going to take your Percap if you vote for him" and pick up phone and call the Department of Justice and BIA in Washington DC ask them what it will take for them to protect the rights of our people and investigate the corruption. If we don't do it soon you may find yourself dis enrolled and no longer have a voice from within. I have heard they are now trying to use the power of disenrollment to stay in power and once you are removed there is nothing you can do, Google "TRIBAL CORUPPTION" and you will see that these are the tools that these greedy council members are using. Just Say No More and stand up and take our tribe back.....
Comment:
So is it that people in this tribe are blind as to what is going on within the tribe? Listen to this and see if it helps those that are in the dark. 1st we have had nearly the same council members for how many years? 2nd our general manager makes over $600,000 a year, he is rarely at work, but is good at spending our tribal money to support his closest friends in construction, food services, and he is not doing his job- plain and simple. Why isn't he making the casino management just as accountable as those that work in facilities, f&b, and etc... you cannot find management there when you need them. Then you have his clones that are so far up his butt that they are stuck up there. for what? His benefits of not coming to work, good jobs with no skills, all they have to do is be loyal. Council will not do anything because most of them are doing and allowing this behavior. Its all for the root of all evil, money. while all of them are cushioning their pockets, our tribe grows poorer. Their fix? cut backs, dis-enrollment, and lies. keep the membership happy, give them their per caps early, give them a bonus, and etc. Our GM has his family scattered all through the tribe, all carefully placed to benefit him. So our tribe is paying extra large sums of $ to management to his ghost employees. they don't clock in or out, they all get paid meals, don't claim flex time when out so they can cash it out later, another perk they get. We need to all pull together and file a law suit against council for not following the constitution. how can they manipulate the elections by buying votes, lying using scare tactics, giving out gas cards, comped rooms. Council is also abusing our justice system. One of our council members has her son removed from Pierce County Jail and yelled at tribal police for not taking him to tribal jail. He was charged with several felony crimes. They also have now manipulated the election committee, gaming advisory board, judicial system, tribal police and all of their special pals. have you noticed that their friends and family are in all the right positions? common people, look, listen and act. we need to sue them for not following the constitution. We have 2 council people that are not legally sitting in their seats. we have four voting and making decisions for our tribe and it isn't valid. By not speaking up, you are allowing this behavior to continue. if you know something, speak up. we as members need to step up to the plate. we need to banish these thieves from our tribe. its so bad now that we might need outside help. we can file a class action suit against each of them. did you know that if you do something now that we might have a future? our tribe is losing money everyday to those allowed to come in and steal. who will our GM bring in next? we need a new GM that will work with and for our tribe not with his own agenda.
Comment:
I will say that it is shameful what this council is doing to our membership and at the same time filling their pockets, it was not too long ago the members were screaming at council about their salaries and they made a promise to all of us to reduce their pay no hear we are a few months later and they give themselves a raise what a disgrace. I have members tell me they want to make change but very few of them are willing to do the leg work to get it done, and then become scared to openly support those that are out there trying to fight for change. I will say change hurts, and to make real change we have to suffer some ourselves and get threw it. I ask all tribal members that are really fed up with it to openly vote for change bring James back and support him when he take the position that if one tribal member don't get help he others don't and vice versa what one gets all gets..... As far as for MRS. HARDGROVE the membership was warned about her before the election and they voted for her so that they could try and benefit from her personal promises but they will pay for it in the long run... as see would say "THANK YOU, VERY MUCH...for trusting someone that can't even pass the simples’ back ground check, I know I passed mine to go to a meeting at the White House....
Comment:
i don't understand this counsels motives in an attempt to discredit good familys that struggle as duz the rest of the members with exception to those that are drawing huge salary's (NO COMMENT) is there not enough tribal business that they need to try an delete tribal members to inrease there own moneys, what are our 4th 5th an 6th generation grandmothers thinking
Comment:
I just had a thought that may or may not have crossed the concerned tribal members out there.... Tribal Council makes $200,000.00 a year not including the Per-Capita... that roughly equals to about $208.33 an Hour of employment, times that by 80 hours, they bring home $16,666.40 Gross per pay period (2 WEEKS). My RANT is where do these people get off being paid such a high wage when they don't even come to work? At least that is what I have been reading. If a Council member happens to read this... maybe seeing for themselves, the breakdown of wages... will give them a sense of humility and a conscience. Nothing wrong with HOPEING...RIGHT!
Comment:
When will the Council Be TRUE to there PEOPLE.When will the Council be HONEST and forthrite with the truth about OUR FUTURES. WHY wont we stand TOGETHER and demand EQUAL benefits for all members... a true DEMOCRACY...THE PEOPLE SHOULD BE AWARE OF ALL OUR BUSINESS VENTURES.BUDGETS I WANT TO SEE OUR $..NOT VOTE TO MAKE THE RICH RICHER....THE NEXT GENERATION CRAVES KNOWLEDGE THE CURRENT TRIBAL COUNCIL THRIVES ON SECRETS... WLL WE BECOME A JOKE... NATIONS LAUGH AND SAY DONT BE LIKE THEM.OTHER NATIONS THINK FREELY...OTHER NATIONS LISTEN TO THERE PEOPLE... THEY OVERCOME BY UNITING.WE MUST UNITE.... OUR THOUGHTS AND IDEAS ARE TRAPPED BY THIS CORRUPT GOVERNMENT.UNTIL WE ARE ABLE TO UNITE AS ONE PEOPLE WE WILL FAIL.I HAVE BEEN SILENT.I CANNONT AND WILL NOT BE SILENCED ANY LONGER.
Comment:
Let me first say I completely agree with most everything said here with regard to our Council being out for themselves. The greed is something I have seen up close and personally... first hand. My family is hurting because of their greed and inability to lead a tribe without being greed driven. The good people who work for them are shunned, not supported, fired, or are continually worried about their jobs. The tribe is going back to the old ways where Council helps their families and friends before considering what is best for the entire membership and those that will come in the future. I do want to make a small correction here though. Council's salary's were about $183,352.00 with the 3% it puts them just over $188,860.00ish. They lie so much I thought it important to make sure that we were correct. The above salary doesn't include fringe or the annual leave that they can and probably do buy out. You can go to paycheckcity.com and guess at their deductions.... oh and they don't have to pay social security either. Just an FYI :~)
Comment:
UNTIL THE TIME COMES WHERE WE CAN STAND TOGETHER IT DOESNT MATTER WHAT COUNCIL MAKES...WHAT THE GM OF EQC MAKES.WHAT ALL THE LAWYERS MAKE.WHAT THE PR PEOPLE MAKE.WHAT ALL OF THE DIRECTOR POSITIONS MAKE. ITS ALL JUST WORDS AND NUMBERS AND SECRETS.WE NEED TO FOCUS ON HOW WE CAN EMPOWER OURSELVES AND EDUCATE AND INFORM THE MEMBERSHIP.
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