Thread: Kan. 'tribal chief' gets prison for immigrant scam

Kan. 'tribal chief' gets prison for immigrant scam

ASSOCIATED PRESS

10:49 a.m. October 9, 2008

WICHITA, Kan. – One of the so-called tribal chiefs of a Kansas group that claims to be an American Indian nation is going to prison for his role in a scheme to defraud immigrants.

Chuck Flynn was sentenced Thursday to a year and a day in federal prison.

Prosecutors say the Kaweah Indian Nation sold tribal memberships to immigrants and promised them that the memberships conferred U.S. citizenship. Federal officials don't recognize the tribe as legitimate and even if they did, immigrants could not obtain legal status by joining it.
Flynn pleaded guilty in July to encouraging illegal immigrants to reside in the United States.

His wife, Debra Flynn, will be sentenced Friday. She was the tribe's so-called secretary of state and its chief administrator.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nati ... tribe.html

Oct 10, 3:15 PM EDT

Kan. tribal 'secretary of state' gets prison term

By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press Writer

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- The "secretary of state" of a group that claims to be an American Indian tribe was sentenced Friday to one year and one day in prison for encouraging illegal immigrants to live in the U.S.

Debra Flynn, also known as Little Mouse, at times choked back tears as U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown gave her the lenient sentence prosecutors had sought in exchange for her cooperation in the prosecution of the Kaweah Indian Nation and its grand chief, Malcolm Webber.

Flynn testified during Webber's trial that leaders of the Kaweah Indian Nation considered creating a reservation that could protect illegal immigrants from deportation. She described a July 2006 tribal council meeting at which the purchase of 1,000 acres as a reservation was discussed.

"I ask God to forgive me for my disobedience. I ask the court to forgive me to for my disobedience," she told the judge as her voice cracked.

Prosecutors say the Kaweah Indian Nation sold tribal memberships to immigrants and promised them that the memberships conferred U.S. citizenship. Federal officials don't recognize the tribe as legitimate, and even if they did, membership would not confer U.S. citizenship.

Prosecutors say the group sold the memberships to more than 13,000 people nationwide, often through Hispanic churches, for $50 to more than $1,000 apiece.

The bulk of the memberships were sold between January 2005 and September 2007 and amounted to about $1.2 million.

Along with the prison term, the judge ordered two years of probation for Flynn after her release from prison. He recommended Flynn, who has a number of medical problems and often uses a cane and motorized wheelchair, serve her time in a federal medical prison facility.

When she pleaded guilty in July, Flynn admitted that she processed tribal membership applications and supervised others who did the same. She also admitted working with Hispanic pastors to sell memberships to illegal immigrants.

Flynn, the tribe's chief administrator, was the fourth defendant to be sentenced in the case. A jury found Webber guilty in August on six federal charges arising from the unrecognized tribe's efforts to sell memberships, and acquitted him of one charge. His sentencing has been delayed until December.

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/ ... SECTION=US

With any luck at all, these crumbs will be imprisoned in areas heavily populated by MS-13 members and others of their ilk.

------ Kansas defendant freed in tribal immigration case

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- A Guatemalan janitor was freed from jail Thursday after sentencing for his role in the case against an unrecognized American Indian tribe that prosecutors contend defrauded thousands of immigrants by falsely promising that tribal membership would make them U.S. citizens.

Angel Zamora, 39, was sentenced to time served and one year of probation in the case against the Kaweah Indian Nation, which prosecutors contend is a fake tribe, and its self-proclaimed grand chief, Malcolm Webber. Zamora, the fifth defendant to be sentenced in the case, made no statement to the court before sentencing.

Zamora volunteered at the tribe's office, where his wife worked. He pleaded guilty in July to not telling authorities that a crime was being committed. His wife, Eduviges del Carmen Zamora, was sentenced earlier this month to time served on a similar charge.

On Thursday, Angel Zamora walked out of the federal courtroom a free man and embraced his tearful wife and children in an emotional reunion in the courthouse hallway.

U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown granted the more lenient sentences prosecutors had sought for the Zamoras because of their cooperation. Prosecutors even intervened to allow Angel Zamora, who had been jailed without bond as an illegal immigrant, to remain lawfully in the United States after his release.

The couple's August 2007 arrests brought to light a scheme in which prosecutors said the tribe used Hispanic pastors to reach congregations, ensnaring more than 15,000 people across the country. Eventually, federal prosecutors charged 11 people and the Kaweah Indian Nation with crimes that spanned from January 2005 and September 2007. Charges have been dismissed against the tribe and two defendants; one remains a fugitive; and seven others have pleaded guilty to reduced charges.


http://www.hdnews.net/wirestories/k1021 ... 10-17-2080