- Details
- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Policy and Law
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A federal judge sentenced a second defendant to six years and six months in prison for helping divert more than $4.7 million from the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
Patrick Ross, 56, of Porcupine, S.D., received the same 78-month sentence imposed in June on his co-defendant Buffy Redfish. U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler also ordered Ross to serve three years of supervised release, federal prosecutors said.
Ross and Redfish were each ordered to pay $4,744,415.36 in restitution arising from the same $4.7 million loss to the tribe.
From 2017 to May 2024, the pair diverted fee checks collected from contractors by the tribe’s Tribal Employment Rights Office, or TERO,…
These frauds exploit emotional vulnerability and trust rather than technical weaknesses.
- Romance Scams: Scammers build long-term online relationships with victims, eventually fabricating a “crisis” (medical emergency, legal trouble, or travel costs) that requires the victim to send money.
- Pig Butchering: A hybrid scam where the criminal builds a romantic or platonic relationship to eventually “tutor” the victim in a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment.
