Tribe official pleads guilty in immigration plot
The Associated Press
Published Friday, July 18, 2008 at 7:54 a.m. CDT
WICHITA — The secretary of a group that claims to be an American Indian tribe pleaded guilty Thursday to failing to tell authorities that immigrants were being defrauded by promises that tribal membership conferred U.S. citizenship.

Eduviges del Carmen Zamora pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, generally defined as concealing someone else’s crime. She agreed to testify in next month’s U.S. District Court trial of the remaining defendants ensnared in a federal investigation of the Kaweah Indian Nation.

Authorities raided the group’s offices and arrested its self-proclaimed chief, Malcolm Webber, last September.

Prosecutors allege that the group marketed tribal memberships to legal and illegal immigrants by saying the documents conferred U.S. citizenship and would allow immigrants to obtain other documents and benefits, including Social Security cards.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs ruled in 1984 that the Kaweah group had no historical link to American Indian tribes. The bureau also ruled that Webber — also known as Grand Chief Thunderbird IV — is not an Indian.

Zamora acknowledged that she worked last year for Webber. Her job was to generate a membership certificate and a laminated card indicating “citizenshipâ€