PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Former Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Chairman
Duane Big Eagle has been sentenced to three years in prison on
federal bribery and conspiracy convictions in a scheme that
rewarded tribal officials for giving construction companies
contracts for new buildings at the tribe's school in central South
Dakota.
A federal jury in August convicted the 62-year-old on two counts
of conspiracy to bribe a tribal official and one count of bribery.
Big Eagle had asked to be sentenced to a year of house arrest
and repayment of $21,500 to the tribe, but U.S. District Court
Judge Roberto A. Lange on Wednesday said the nature of the crime
required Big Eagle serve time in prison.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-11-30-11 1751EST
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