Havre businessman sentenced in Rocky Boy corruption probe

HELENA, Mont. (AP) – A Havre businessman has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for his role in a corruption scheme on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris sentenced Shad Huston to 41 months in prison Monday and ordered him to pay $500,000 in restitution.

Huston had pleaded guilty in December to bribing a tribal official and conspiring to make false claims in order to take federal stimulus money awarded to the reservation.

Prosecutors say Huston gave tribal officials cash and gifts in return for lucrative contracts for work on the reservation paid for with federal money.

His conviction is part of a wide-ranging investigation into corruption on the reservation. The Havre Daily News first reported Huston’s sentencing.