North Carolina Man Sentenced for Theft and Embezzlement from the Passamaquoddy Tribe

Contact: F. Todd Lowell
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373

Bangor, Maine:  United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Stephen E. Crawford, 68, of Beaufort, North Carolina, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court by Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. to one year of probation for stealing and embezzling funds from the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point.  The defendant paid $26,373.72 in restitution in advance of the sentencing.

Court records show that between February 2003 and February 2012, the defendant served as the tribe’s environmental director.  Between 2006 and 2012, the defendant fraudulently obtained and stole over $25,000 from the tribe by submitting fraudulent travel expense reports and supporting documentation.

In imposing the probationary sentence, Judge Woodcock noted that the defendant was now a federal felon, had lost his job and career and reputation, and would be barred from working on federal contracts for a period of time.  Judge Woodcock said that the fact that the defendant had paid full restitution before sentencing also played a significant role in his determination of the appropriate sentence.
 
The case was investigated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Inspector General.