MUSKOGEE, Okla. – A federal judge has sentenced the Choctaw Nation’s former executive construction director to more than a decade behind bars.
Jason Merida was sentenced was sentenced Monday afternoon in the Eastern District of Oklahoma to 12 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.
Merida was convicted in November on two counts each of theft and tax fraud and one count each of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit bribery. He was acquitted of an additional charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The charges stem from false billing practices used by contractors from three companies between 2008 and 2011 while construction efforts were underway at the tribe’s casinos in Durant and Pocola. Funds generated by the overcharging and false billings were used to make large campaign donations and purchase lavish gifts. Six other conspirators were also convicted as part of the pay to play scheme.
Among the gifts he received and failed to declare on his tax returns included hunting trips to New Mexico and Missouri, $20,000 in cash, more than $40,000 in Kohler home fixtures, a steel cattle guard, a 2009 Cadillac Escalade, two Louis Vuitton handbags, a golf weekend at Pebble Beach, California, tickets to a Dallas Cowboys playoff game and two Kawasaki Mule utility vehicles.
Throughout the proceedings, Merida and his attorneys maintained that he simply was a scapegoat for higher ranking officials in the tribe, including former Chief Gregory Pyle and current Chief Gary Batton.
“He (Merida) didn’t invent the corrupt culture at the Choctaw Nation at the time,” defense attorney Lance Hopkins said. “It was condoned and administered by people higher up than him, including the chief and assistant chief, to whom he directly reported.”
Along with the prison sentence and supervised release, Merida must pay restitution to both the Choctaw Nation and the Internal Revenue Service.
“He (Merida) has been instrumental in damaging the trust that Choctaws should have in their tribe’s government,” federal prosecutor Doug Horn said. “We need to send a message that it can not and will not be tolerated.”
Merida was originally scheduled to be sentenced in early May, but with both sides contesting some of the findings in the sentencing guidelines, the ruling was postponed until Monday in order to give the court time to act on those objections, including questions of whether the unelected program director met the definition of a public official. Under federal sentencing guidelines, convicted public officials generally are subject to harsher sentences than private individuals accused of similar offenses.
“The defendant was acting in his official capacity with the Choctaw Nation when he accepted bribes,” Judge James Payne said Monday. “He was not elected but he had a position of public trust, which qualifies him as a public official.”
Despite the court labeling Merida as a public official, Judge Payne opted to not follow the sentencing guidelines, which called for a prison stint ranging from 27 to 34 years.
By comparison, two of Merida’s co-conspirators, former Builders Steel executives Brent and Lauri Parsons, received five years and 46 months, respectively.
Merida must self-report to an as-yet undisclosed location by noon on July 13. Judge Payne granted a request from the defense to allow Merida to serve his sentence as close to his home near Rattan in southeastern Oklahoma as possible.
Aside from occasionally shaking his head during arguments from the prosecution, Merida gave almost no reaction to the proceedings until given the opportunity to speak immediately before the sentence was handed down.
“I respect you, your honor,” Merida said. “I respect this court and the officers in these proceedings. I still maintain that I am innocent and that I wronged no man. I just ask that we move forward.”
