Ex-Chippewa Cree tribal council member admits to fraud, theft

GREAT FALLS — A former member of the Chippewa Cree Tribal Council has pleaded guilty to embezzling money from the tribe and failing to pay income taxes for several years.

The plea agreement calls for Brian Kelly Eagleman to pay $683,000 in restitution to the tribe and the Internal Revenue Service, according to federal court records.

Eagleman, 53, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Great Falls to embezzlement from an Indian tribal organization, theft from an Indian tribal organization and income tax evasion. He is to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian Morris on Oct. 6.

His case is among about two dozen brought against tribal leaders and outside businesses and businessmen involving the misappropriation of federal funds, kickbacks and bribery in awarding tribal contracts.

Eagleman acknowledged receiving $50,000 from an illegal finder's fee paid after the tribe's construction company purchased an overpriced and unneeded asphalt plant from a Billings contractor. Eagleman was among those approving the $1.7 million purchase as a member of the tribal business council and he received the $50,000 as a cashier's check payable to the IRS, prosecutors said. However, in early 2013, he conducted several bank transactions with the cashier's check and took the full amount in cash, leaving his debt to the IRS unpaid, court records said.

Eagleman also acknowledged exploiting a tribal loan program to which he owes more than $243,000, court records said.

Eagleman owed $246,000 in unpaid loans to the tribe in January 2012, but continued to borrow money despite new rules that said borrowers couldn't have an unpaid balance of more than $1,000 and the maximum individual loan was $500, prosecutors said. Between January 2012 and November 2015, Eagleman borrowed an additional $37,650.

And finally, Eagleman pleaded guilty to failing to pay income taxes from 2003-2008 and in 2010. The total taxes owed were just over $60,000, but with penalties and interest the total due the IRS is nearly $123,000.

The plea agreement also requires Eagleman to pay $410,000 in restitution to the tribe in the loan case and $150,000 in the kickback case. Any other sentences for the three charges are to be served concurrently, under the plea agreement.