Former Tribal Employee Charged With Theft of Federal Funds
United States Attorney James L. Santelle announced that on June 7, 2011, a federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment charging Dori F. McGeshick (age: 44) of Rhinelander, with theft from a federal program, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 666(a)(1)(A) and (b). McGeshick a former employee of the Sokaogon Chippewa Tribe (Tribe) and a current employee of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is alleged to have stolen federal funds that had been granted to the Tribe. If convicted, McGeshick faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
According to the indictment McGeshick is alleged to have unlawfully converted over $13,000 in federal grant funds while she was working for the Tribe. The allegedly stolen funds were part of a $1.88 million grant the Tribe received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to construct eleven homes for eligible Tribal members on the Mole Lake Reservation in Forest County.
The case was investigated by the HUD Office of the Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy Funnell of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Green Bay Division.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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