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Former Choctaw Leader Sentenced to Prison for Wire Fraud
A former member of the Tribal Council for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians has been sentenced to prison for committing wire fraud. Roderick Bell, 42, of Philadelphia, was found to have defrauded the Choctaw Tribal government.
Bell was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2019, for defrauding the Choctaw Tribal government. Between April 2017 and October 2017, Bell forged hotel bills and receipts and submitted those documents to the Tribal government in claims for reimbursement for official business travel.
Bell pled guilty on June 29, 2021 to wire fraud. The sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves was 12 months and one day in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, and restitution to the Tribe in the amount of $11,094.15.
Bell will surrender on December 6, 2021, to complete his sentence in the custody of the United States Bureau of Prisons. This case is an example of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s commitment to rooting out public corruption in the state.
Acting U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca commended the work of the Special Agents with the FBI’s Jackson Division who investigated the case. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Theodore Cooperstein and Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Payne.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with law enforcement agencies to catch and prosecute those who commit public corruption.
In related news, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians has implemented new measures to prevent similar cases of public corruption.
Key Facts
- State: Mississippi
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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