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Former CEOs of Plain Green Sentenced to Prison
GREAT FALLS, Montana – Former Chief Executive Officers for Plain Green, the Chippewa Cree Tribe’s internet lending business, have been sentenced to several years in prison for bribery and embezzlement.
Neal Paul Rosette, 54, of Box Elder, who served as the lending corporation’s CEO from its origination until January of 2012, was sentenced to 38 months in prison and restitution of $1,488,472. His colleague, Billi Anne Morsette, was sentenced to 41 months in prison, and $1,421,045 in restitution.
In December of last year, Rosette and Morsette pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from Encores Services, a Las Vegas business, in exchange for facilitating the award and payment on fraudulent tribal contracts.
The two also pleaded guilty to helping Chippewa Cree Tribal Vice-Chairman John Chance Houle siphon off over $55,000 in tribal monies, laundering them through First American Capital Resources, the predecessor company to Plain Green, and then diverting the money to the Chippewa Cree Rodeo Association accounts which Houle had used as a slush fund.
According to court records, the Chippewa Cree Tribe created First American Capital Resources, LLC (FACR) in May of 2010, to partner with outside interests to provide a pay-day, on-line lending platform which, using tribal sovereignty, could be exempt from state laws and regulations regarding usury and predatory lending practices.
Rosette and Morsette were also charged with income tax evasion and willful failure to file tax returns, respectively.
The sentences were handed down by U.S. District Judge Brian Morris in Great Falls.
Key Facts
- State: Montana
- Category: Public Corruption|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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