Henrys plead guilty to filing false returns

Former Stone Child College head Melody Henry and her husband, Frank Henry, pleaded guilty Monday to filing a false federal income tax return Monday and awaits sentencing.

The maximum penalty for the count is three years imprisonment with one year of supervised release and a $100,000 fine, as well as costs of prosecution.

A jury Feb. 20 found the Henrys not guilty of embezzling funds from the Chippewa Cree Tribe.

Melody Henry is formerly the president of Stone Child College, and in 2012 filed a false return on her taxes. She and her husband, who was the grounds manager at the college, claimed $135,146 on their 2012 tax return, with a business loss of $10,609, “then and there well knowing that they had not incurred business expenses to that extent or in that amount, or suffered a business loss to that extent or in that amount,” the redacted indictment reads.

She admitted to the charges Monday during an appearance in federal District Court in Great Falls.

The Henrys’ sentencing is scheduled for July 27 at 1:30 p.m. at the Missouri River Federal Courthouse in Great Falls.

The Henry case is part of an ongoing investigation into criminal wrongdoing at Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation.

The federal Guardians Project is probing reservation corruption around Montana.

Many tribal officials and their off-reservation cohorts have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.