While being cross-examined Tuesday afternoon by a federal prosecutor in the case against former Executive Director of Construction Administration Jason Merida, Choctaw Nation Principal Chief Gary Batton admitted that he did not disclose several trips and gifts from Builders Steel on ethics statement filed with the tribe.

MUSKOGEE, Okla. – Testimony in a federal case against a former Choctaw Nation official revealed that a memory lapse may have lead to a violation of the tribe’s ethics law.

While being cross-examined Tuesday afternoon by a federal prosecutor in the case against former Executive Director of Construction Administration Jason Merida, Choctaw Nation Principal Chief Gary Batton admitted that he did not disclose several trips and gifts from Builders Steel on ethics statement filed with the tribe, including transportation via private plane to Cabela’s, a Dallas area camping and hunting megastore, a high-powered rifle scope, a pair of Swarovski binoculars and his share of a dinner at Mahogany Steakhouse that the Tulsa-based firm won for $50,000 at a silent auction fundraiser for former chief Gregory Pyle’s re-election campaign.

As per a law enacted in early 2012, tribal officials are required to disclose any gifts received that are worth $250 or more or any business transactions conducted with family members. Of the 57 items listed on Batton’s first ethics statement – spanning January 2010 through January 2012 – only three were above the $250 mark.

Prior to the trial, Batton publicly acknowledged that he accepted two out-of-state trips and a rifle at the expense of Builders Steel, a Tulsa-based vendor. One of the two trips – a hunting excursion in Acoma, N.M. – and the rifle were listed on the ethics statement.

Claiming he felt guilty for accepting the gifts after learning of Builders Steel’s questionable billing practices, Batton donated a combined $27,500 to Southeastern Oklahoma State University and Children’s Hospital Foundation – roughly equal to the approximate amount of the trips’ expenses.

Despite the omissions being grounds for perjury under Choctaw law, the chief testified that he simply forgot to list the items.

“I didn’t realize the extent to which I’d received gifts from Builders Steel until today,” he said.

Merida, the man on trial Tuesday, was arraigned earlier this year in the Eastern District of Oklahoma on two counts each of theft, tax fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. 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, including firearms, cattle guards, a 2009 Cadillac Escalade and Kohler fixtures for two homes.

Among the allegations leveled at Merida from former executives with Flintco, Builders Steel and Scott Rice, is that he specifically told the companies to make regular contributions to golf tournaments and trail rides hosted by former chief Greg Pyle’s re-election campaign, including high dollar silent auction items that its officials would then buy back at several times more than the suggested retail value.

Batton confirmed Tuesday that not only had his campaign received the $1 million left in Pyle’s re-election war chest upon his April resignation, but that as of Oct. 24 – less than a week before the trial began – his 2015 campaign was already planning a golf tournament fundraiser identical to those hosted by his predecessor.

“Have you not learned anything from this trial?” asked federal prosecutor Doug Horn.

Batton also testified Tuesday that he warned Merida twice in the past about not accepting gifts from vendors while on the job. Merida worked directly under Batton while executive director and when the two were at the tribe’s health department in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The first warning came more than a decade ago when Merida, then the director of environmental health, faced allegations of taking gifts from contractors. Those accusations were never substantiated. The second warning came in 2010 when Merida requested time off to participate in a golf junket at Pebble Beach, Calif., financed by Builders Steel.

“I relayed a warning to him from the tribe’s general counsel,” he said. “I told him it was OK to take the trip as long as no unethical behavior occurred and he didn’t let that trip influence his decision-making.”

After almost three weeks of witnesses, Merida is scheduled to testify in his own defense Wednesday as the last person to take the stand before closing arguments.