Montana woman pleads guilty in tribal corruption case

GREAT FALLS – A Rocky Boy woman has pleaded guilty to defrauding a Montana tribe’s construction company.

The Great Falls Tribune reported 37-year-old Georgie Elaine Russell pleaded guilty Thursday to theft from an Indian tribal government receiving federal grants and making false statements about federal funding. The plea agreement calls for her to pay over $61,000 in restitution.

Prosecutors alleged Russell embezzled from the Chippewa Cree Construction, where she worked, and from another company. She also overstated the construction corporation’s cash-on-hand by more than $1 million in 2012 and 2013.

Tribal leaders and others are serving federal prison sentences for awarding or receiving high cost construction contracts using federal funding in exchange for kickbacks.

Prosecutors recommend that any sentence Russell receives for embezzlement in April should run concurrent to a 5-year sentence she received in a Washington state meth case.