Kevin Michael Trio, Bribery, South Dakota 2021

State: South Dakota
Category: Public Corruption
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sd/pr/contracting-company-owner-pleads-guilty-federal-offense-and-another-business-partner" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

Grimy Times has learned that Kevin Michael Trio, 58, of Maple Plain, Minnesota, pleaded guilty to making a materially false statement to two federal agents in connection with a bribery scheme. Trio’s plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann on August 2, 2021, in the federal courthouse in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

The charges against Trio stem from his role in a bribery scheme involving the Dakota Nations Development Corporation (DNDC), an agency of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Sioux Tribe. The tribe received federal assistance in excess of $10,000 during the one-year period between October 1, 2017, and September 30, 2018. Trio was a partner in Tatanka Contracting, which was awarded a contract worth $1,129,679 to perform earthwork on a housing project for the DNDC.

According to court documents, Daniel Thomas White, the Director of the DNDC, accepted bribes from John German, a partner in Tatanka Contracting, in exchange for awarding the contract to the company. White and German have already pleaded guilty to their roles in the bribery scheme. White is set to be sentenced on September 27, 2021, while German was sentenced in October 2020 to 84 months in federal custody.

The investigation into the bribery scheme was conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy R. Jehangiri prosecuted the case.

Trio faces a maximum penalty of five years of imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both fine and imprisonment. He also faces three years of supervised release following his release from custody, a $100 special assessment, and restitution.

The case is part of The Guardians Project, a federal law enforcement initiative to coordinate efforts between participating agencies to promote citizen disclosure of public corruption, fraud, and embezzlement involving federal program funds, contracts, and grants.

Related Federal Cases