FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22, 2004
UTE MOUNTAIN UTE TRIBAL CHAIR JUDY KNIGHT-FRANK SUBMITS RESIGNATION AND PLEADS GUILTY TO FILING FALSE INCOME TAX RETURN
DENVER – John W. Suthers, United States Attorney for the District of Colorado, Phillip B.J. Reid, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Denver office, and Anne Marie Minogue, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-Criminal Investigation, Denver Field Office, today announced that JUDY KNIGHT-FRANK, age 60, entered a guilty plea to one count of falsifying her 1998 federal income tax returns by failing to disclose as income approximately $153,000.00 in net salary advances that she received from the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe during the 1998 tax year. The guilty plea was entered before U.S. District Court Judge Marcia Krieger. Prior to entering the guilty plea, KNIGHT-FRANK submitted her resignation as the elected chair of the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe to be affective March 26, 2004. She was also tribal chair from 1989 to 1998 and Vice Chair from 1981 to 1988.
KNIGHT-FRANK utilized a tribal payroll advance program to obtain substantial payroll advances. According to the plea agreement, in 1998 KNIGHT-FRANK received a net total of $153,249.01. The government asserts that the taxes owed for 1998 total $59,058.33. According to the indictment, the Tribe advanced KNIGHT-FRANK a total of $359,317.04 over a three year period, with the total net amount being approximately $274,536.82.
This case was investigated by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Durango Office) and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (Grand Junction Office). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Kennedy and Bob Mydans.
KNIGHT-FRANK now faces up to 3 years in federal prison and/or a $100,000 fine. She is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Krieger on June 21, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. As part of the plea agreement, the Government has agreed to dismiss the remaining counts of the indictment.
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