Former Oglala Sioux Council Head Sentenced to 22 Months Imprisonment for Misusing Tribe's Finances
A past chief of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, named Julian Bear Runner, has been imprisoned for 22 months in a federal penitentiary due to theft from the indigenous community.
At the age of 39, Bear Runner served as tribal president from January 2019 to January 2020. However, during his brief tenure, he pocketed over $80K from the tribe, which manages the Prairie Wind Casino located on the Pine Ridge reservation. He has been ordered to repay $82K to the tribe.
Following a three-day jury trial in April 2024, Bear Runner was convicted of wire fraud, larceny, and embezzlement. The former tribal president fabricated bogus vouchers to obtain checks from the tribe for uneventful work trips, using tribal funds as his personal bank account, spending the money at the Prairie Wind Casino, as per the prosecutors.
Deceitful Strategies
Following his November 2018 election, Bear Runner became one of the youngest leaders of the tribe. Yet, he embarked on a "deceitful strategy to defraud the Oglala Sioux Tribe and enrich himself" as soon as he took office, according to court records. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2022.
From January 2019 through January 2020, Bear Runner began scheduling official travel and collecting checks for associated expenses, despite not traveling or bearing the costs of airline tickets, hotels, or food," according to the indictment.
"Despite fully knowing he hadn't traveled and wasn't entitled to travel funds, Bear Runner fraudulently submitted vouchers claiming he was going to travel and was entitled to travel funds," it read.
Questionable Past
Bear Runner's brief term was marred by scandal. Despite advocating for the alcohol ban in the reservation and its casino, Pine Ridge being the only dry reservation in South Dakota, he was apprehended for drunk driving and assault in May 2020.
In July 2020, he issued a COVID-19 lockdown order without informing the tribal council, making it impossible to explain the order. He was suspended from office for 30 days.
A month later, he was put on unpaid leave following accusations of threatening a 17-year-old male into sexual acts, an allegation he denied. He narrowly avoided impeachment but was voted out in November 2020.
Just days after leaving office, he was apprehended for instigating a fight with private security at the Cheers Sports Bar & Casino at the Grand Gateway Hotel in Rapid City.
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