Tribal jury clears chairman of fraud charges

HAVRE, Mont. (AP) – A Chippewa Cree tribal court jury has cleared tribal chairman Ken St. Marks of defrauding the tribe and ordered the tribe to pay him more than $200,000 for his company's work on a pipeline project.

St. Marks was elected chairman of the tribal business committee in 2012. He has been thrown out of office and re-elected three times since. St. Marks has argued that he was impeached for cooperating with a federal fraud investigation that led to the conviction of nearly two dozen tribal members and business associates.

During last week's trial, the tribe alleged St. Marks was unjustly enriched by receiving over $428,000 from the tribe for pipeline work and equipment leases. The jury rejected those claims said St. Marks was owned nearly $214,000 in damages for payment the tribe withheld on another pipeline contract.

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Information from: Havre Daily News, http://www.havredailynews.com