Daniel Thomas White, Bribery, South Dakota 2020

A former director of a tribal development entity in South Dakota has pleaded guilty to bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.

According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Daniel Thomas White, 44, of Peever, South Dakota, appeared before U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann on August 24, 2020, and pleaded guilty to bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.

At the time of the bribery scheme, White served as the Director of the Dakota Nations Development Corporation (DNDC), an entity of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Sioux Tribe. White's duties included overseeing housing and construction projects of the DNDC.

DNDC, by and through the tribe, received federal assistance in excess of $10,000 during the one-year period between October 1, 2017, and September 30, 2018. The tribe also committed nearly $3,000,000 to the project.

White corruptly solicited, demanded, and agreed to accept a thing of value from a person or persons working for and on behalf of Tatanka Contracting, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with a transaction and series of transactions of the Dakota Nations Development Corporation involving $5,000 or more.

The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 10 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.

The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Jehangiri is prosecuting the case.

A sentencing date of May 24, 2021, has been set.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sd/pr/former-director-tribal-development-entity-pleads-guilty-bribery