Tribal council alleges St. Marks' wrongdoing

Ken St. Marks, the suspended Chippewa Cree tribal chair, was removed from office for several reasons including that he spent $40,000 on a Cadillac Escalade without proper authorization and then used the vehicle for personal use.

That’s according to a press release issued by the tribe’s business committee.

They also accused St. Marks with misusing a tribal credit card.

St. Marks said if the tribe is charging him with wrongdoing “bring it on.”

He said he did nothing wrong and called on the tribe to press criminal charges with the U.S. attorney’s office.

“I’ll put my case at the top of the list,” he said, alluding to several cases the federal attorneys have brought against officials at Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation.

St. Marks said he wants an open airing on the council’s allegations.

The tribe was responding to comments by St. Marks that he was removed from office because he was asking too many questions about the tribe’s relationship with BEH Gaming Ltd. of Florida.

St. Marks said he received a $16 million bill in the mail from the Florida company concerning its relationships with Northern Winz Casino. He said he was told by fellow tribal council members not to ask questions about it.

The company recently filed a $17 million lawsuit against the tribe.

The tribe denied the BEH controversy had anything with the council‘s decision to dismiss St. Marks.

The press release said that as a tribe “we refuse to ignore the frivolous accusations made by St. Marks, which were made solely to mislead the community.”

Tribal council acted in accordance with the tribe’s constitution when it removed St. Marks, the release said.

“The Business Committee will continue as done in the past to negotiate in good faith in hopes to reach an agreement that is mutually acceptable to both BEH Gaming Ltd. and the Tribe,” tribal officials said in a press release.

Council Vice Chair Ted Whitford said in the press release that Northern Winz Casino was established “to generate jobs and encourage economic development, given our location it’s vital that we continue to move forward creatively to bring in additional revenue in order to remain operable,” he said.

The press release says St. Marks had verbally assaulted numerous tribal employees and engaged in threatening and intimidating behavior toward employees.

The release accused him of conduct amounting to sexual harassment of employees.

St. Marks has denied these charges in the past,and, though an order of protection was issued, no charges were filed.

St. Marks was removed from office unanimously by tribal council, but voters then returned him to office in a special election.

The tribe’s election board then invalidated the elections.

St. Marks went into tribal court to get the election board’s decision overturned. The judge ruled in his favor, and the election board appealed.

An appeals court decision is pending.