Press Release
Contact:
JEFF J. DAVIS
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
PHONE: (616) 456-2406
KEWEENAW BAY INDIAN COMMUNITY TRIBAL MEMBER
SENTENCED FOR THEFT OF TRIBAL PROPERTY
TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2009 -
MARQUETTE, Michigan – Robert Charles Genschow, Sr., 60, of L’Anse, Michigan, was sentenced to 10 months’ incarceration, followed by two years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today. Genschow was also ordered to perform 250 hours of community service and to pay $47,200 in restitution owed to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. Genschow was convicted of destruction of trees on an Indian reservation and theft of tribal property by the Honorable Robert Holmes Bell, U.S. District Court Judge, following a two-day bench trial held in Marquette, Michigan, in March of this year.
According to testimony and exhibits introduced at trial, Genschow claimed to be Chief Lonewolf of the Ontonagon Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and asserted that, as Chief, he had the right to remove timber from the land in question. During the trial of this case, former Keweenaw Bay Tribal President Susan LaFernier testified that the Ontonagon Band of Lake Superior Chippewa ceased to exist in 1936, when the Band voted to join with the L’Anse Band to create the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. Thereafter, LaFernier testified, Keweenaw Bay had authority over all lands for these Bands.
In its ruling, the Court stated that it did not believe the Defendant’s claimed basis for his conduct: “The idea that he can assert ownership of property and be cutting trees and building it for his own use is simply not credible. The idea that the United States government would allow a self-appointed chieftain to be given legal recognition is not credible. It is not the way the BIA regulations work. It is not the law of the United States as it deals with sovereign nations at all, and the defendant is well aware of this fact.”
U.S. Attorney Davis commended the Keweenaw Bay Tribal Police and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Sault Ste. Marie office, for their investigative work on the case. Prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff J. Davis.
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