SACRAMENTO – Federal Judge John A. Mendez (E.D. Cal.), today, sentenced John Crosby, Ines Crosby, and Leslie Lohse for their role in what the judge described as a more than decade-long scheme to embezzle millions of dollars from the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians. John Crosby and Ines Crosby were each sentenced to four years and nine months, and Leslie Lohse was sentenced to three years and five months.

During the sentencing hearing, Judge Mendez read aloud, from the government’s sentencing memo, some examples of defendants’ thefts, including: a luxury home purchased and renovated by John Crosby with over $1.5 million dollars stolen from the Tribe, over a hundred thousand dollars of the Tribe’s money spent by Ines Crosby on a watch and trip to Africa. However, these thefts, he observed, were just “the tip of the iceberg,” noting that the defendants started stealing from the tribe in the early 2000s and stole as a matter of course. Referencing statements made by the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians Chairman Andrew Alejandre in support of the defendants’ sentencing, Judge Mendez observed, “The chairman described your clients as criminals, hardened criminals, and I agree.”

In addition to the written and oral statements provided on behalf of the Tribe by Chairman Alejandre, half a dozen other Tribe members gave statements in open court and, in two cases, in writing as well. These included Tribal elders Bonnie Gonzales and Rebecca Swearinger, who spoke eloquently about how the defendants did not just steal from the Tribe, but established a system of punishment, terror, and control whereby Tribe members who asked questions about the Tribe’s finances or the defendants’ related actions were brutally punished, intimidating others to stay silent. Tribe member Kimberly Freeman shared with the Court how she was suspended from the Tribe for 10 years, denying her the money she needed to support her and her children as a single mother, just for asking whether the Tribe had a private plane.

Judge Mendez described the defendants, in particular Leslie Lohse, as “vindictive” in her treatment of Tribe members in this way, punishing Tribe members for raising concerns about the defendants’ use of Tribal money that later turned out to be completely true.

Judge Mendez also rejected efforts by the defendants to cast themselves as the “victims” of the Tribe, noting that the Tribe had every right to pursue the defendants for the money they stole, and he rejected arguments that the defendants deserved leniency because of their claimed contributions to the Tribe’s economic development and the letters submitted in their support. Regarding John Crosby, Judge Mendez asked his attorney whether the people who submitted those letters knew what Mr. Crosby had done. He also repeatedly noted that this was not an isolated instance of stealing but rather a “lifestyle” of crime that went on for over a decade, asking the defendants and their attorneys whether the defendants ever stopped to think about what they were doing and its consequences. He further asked Leslie Lohse and her attorney whether, if she had not been removed from her position in 2014, she likely would have just continued stealing, to which Ms. Lohse admitted that she probably would have.

Tribal Chairman Alejandre, in asking that the defendants be adequately sentenced for their crimes, told the Court, “We have suffered enough. My ancestors, my elders and fellow tribal members deserve to have an identity, they deserve to have culture, they deserve to experience unity, they deserve a voice, they deserve peace, and most importantly they deserve justice.”

After the sentencing, Chairman Alejandre observed that the Tribe has finally received justice. “These three kleptocrats stole from our tribe for over a decade, corrupted our government, and caused misery to our people. It is deeply satisfying to see them finally pay for their crimes.”

Stuart G. Gross of Gross & Klein LLP, who represents the Tribe in connection with the criminal action, as well as related criminal restitution and civil actions, commented, “It’s deeply humbling to have been trusted by the Tribe to assist in this effort. The court did right, today, for a people who were done a great wrong. This is a good one.”

The action is titled U.S.A v. Crosby, et al., No. 17-cr-00006-JAM (E.D. Cal.)