Last of Eleven Defendants Sentenced for Theft and Embezzlement from an Indian Tribal Organization
FARGO - U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on Nov. 21, 2012, Tanya Jetty of St. Michael, N.D., was sentenced before U.S. District Judge
Ralph R. Erickson on charges, in two separate cases, of conspiracy to embezzle from an
Indian Tribal organization, embezzlement and theft from an Indian Tribal organization,
and false statements.
Judge Erickson sentenced Jetty to three months at a residential reentry center and
seven months of electronic home monitoring to be followed by three years of supervised
release. Jetty was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $95,328.14, and to pay a
$300 special assessment to the Crime Victim's Fund. Jetty pleaded guilty to the charges
on May 8, 2012.
Jetty was the compliance officer for the Spirit Lake Vocational Rehabilitation
Program (Voc-Rehab) from January 1998 to May 2011. During this time, Ms. Jetty
knowingly allowed greater than $1,000 of Voc-Rehab funds to be illegally misapplied to
personally benefit herself and other family members.
Ms. Jetty also submitted an application for fuel assistance to the Spirit Lake
Tribe’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for benefits during the
heating season of October 2008 to May 2010 and knowingly failed to include the total
income earned by the occupants of her household. The LIHEAP benefits are determined
based upon the size of the household and income earned by the occupants of the
household. Ms. Jetty’s failure to include all income from her household was intended to
make Ms. Jetty illegally eligible to receive benefits that she would otherwise have been
ineligible to receive.
The investigation into alleged public corruption in the Spirit Lake Voc-Rehab and
LIHEAP programs has produced the federal conviction of 11 other individuals, including
Jetty’s husband, mother, father, and two former tribal council members.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the
U.S. Department of Education - Office of Inspector General.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Janice M. Morley and Brett Shasky prosecuted the case.
