Wed, Dec 03 2008
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Published October 10, 2008 12:08 am - WICHITA, Kan. — One of the so-called tribal chiefs of a Kansas group that claims to be an American Indian nation was sentenced Thursday to one year and a day in federal prison for his role in a scheme to defraud immigrants. Kansas: Tribal chief gets prison for immigration scam The Associated Press
WICHITA, Kan. — One of the so-called tribal chiefs of a Kansas group that claims to be an American Indian nation was sentenced Thursday to one year and a day in federal prison for his role in a scheme to defraud immigrants. Chuck Flynn showed no emotion as he was sentenced to the prison time agreed to by prosecutors as part of a plea deal. He pleaded guilty in July to encouraging illegal immigrants to live in the United States. Flynn made no statement to the court. U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown also ordered Flynn to serve three years probation after his release. The judge wished the Wichita man good luck after his sentencing, and allowed him to voluntarily report to the federal prison facility to serve his time. Prosecutors say the Kaweah Indian Nation and its self-proclaimed grand chief, Malcolm Webber, defrauded immigrants by telling them the tribal identification documents could be used to get Social Security cards, U.S. passports, health care benefits and driver’s licenses. Flynn admitted in his plea deal that he assisted with the processing of membership applications and fees in Wichita. When federal agents raided the group’s offices, they found Kaweah enrollment rolls with the names of 13,142 people, plus an additional 2,000 to 3,000 applications that had not yet been processed, according to trial testimony. The Bureau of Indian Affairs ruled in 1984 that the Kaweah group had no historical link to American Indian tribes, and prosecutors contended at trial that the tribe is Webber’s invention. But even if it was a legitimate tribe, immigrants cannot obtain legal immigration status by joining a tribe. Flynn is the third defendant to be sentenced so far in the scheme. Federal prosecutors charged the tribe and 11 people last year. Charges have been dismissed against the tribe and two defendants, one remains a fugitive and seven others have pleaded guilty to reduced charges. Webber was the only one to stand trial. 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 is scheduled next month, but his defense attorney has asked for it to be delayed until December to give him more time to contest Webber’s pre-sentence report. Flynn’s wife, Debra Flynn, will be sentenced on Friday. She was the tribe’s so-called secretary of state and its chief administrator. 
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