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Log inJury to get Indian Township funds case
Jury to get Indian Township funds case
by Outspoken on Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:03 am
Jury to get Indian Township funds case
BY JUDY HARRISON
Morning Sentinel
BANGOR -- The jury is expected to begin deliberations today in the federal trial of a former Indian Township Passamaquoddy tribal governor and the tribe's ex-business manager accused of misusing $1.7 million in federal funds between Oct. 1, 2002, and Sept. 30, 2006.
Robert L. Newell, 65, of Indian Township took the stand in his own defense Monday in U.S. District Court. He testified that it was not his intent to break the law when he moved money from one tribal account to another to pay bills. Newell denied conspiring with former business manager James J. Parisi Jr., 45, of Portland, in an effort to use tribal money illegally.
Parisi did not take the stand.
Newell admitted that he moved or approved having money moved from one account to another to meet tribal expenses. He told the jury that his goal as governor was to lower the unemployment rate on the reservation that averaged between 30 and 60 percent, depending on the time of year and economic conditions.
To support that effort, he said, he started a workfare program on the reservation that required able-bodied tribal members to work in exchange for general assistance. Jobs ranged from mowing lawns and shoveling snow for elders to driving tribal members to methadone clinics for treatment, he testified.
"I wanted people to feel better about themselves, rather than that they were getting something for nothing," he said of the program.
Much of the money spent from accounts prosecutors have claimed were earmarked for specific purposes, such as housing and drug education and AIDS prevention, was used to pay for general assistance to tribal members, Newell testified. He also denied that he showed favoritism to family members.
He said that during his tenure as governor, many on the reservation were addicted to opiates, including one of his sons. Newell would give addicts who went into treatment money for groceries, utilities, child care, transportation and lodging expenses so tribal members could seek treatment from a methadone clinic in Portland before a clinic opened in Calais.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5618448.html
BY JUDY HARRISON
Morning Sentinel
BANGOR -- The jury is expected to begin deliberations today in the federal trial of a former Indian Township Passamaquoddy tribal governor and the tribe's ex-business manager accused of misusing $1.7 million in federal funds between Oct. 1, 2002, and Sept. 30, 2006.
Robert L. Newell, 65, of Indian Township took the stand in his own defense Monday in U.S. District Court. He testified that it was not his intent to break the law when he moved money from one tribal account to another to pay bills. Newell denied conspiring with former business manager James J. Parisi Jr., 45, of Portland, in an effort to use tribal money illegally.
Parisi did not take the stand.
Newell admitted that he moved or approved having money moved from one account to another to meet tribal expenses. He told the jury that his goal as governor was to lower the unemployment rate on the reservation that averaged between 30 and 60 percent, depending on the time of year and economic conditions.
To support that effort, he said, he started a workfare program on the reservation that required able-bodied tribal members to work in exchange for general assistance. Jobs ranged from mowing lawns and shoveling snow for elders to driving tribal members to methadone clinics for treatment, he testified.
"I wanted people to feel better about themselves, rather than that they were getting something for nothing," he said of the program.
Much of the money spent from accounts prosecutors have claimed were earmarked for specific purposes, such as housing and drug education and AIDS prevention, was used to pay for general assistance to tribal members, Newell testified. He also denied that he showed favoritism to family members.
He said that during his tenure as governor, many on the reservation were addicted to opiates, including one of his sons. Newell would give addicts who went into treatment money for groceries, utilities, child care, transportation and lodging expenses so tribal members could seek treatment from a methadone clinic in Portland before a clinic opened in Calais.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5618448.html
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
