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del.icio.usKaweah official makes plea deal
As the immigration-fraud trial nears for members of the Kaweah Indian Nation, several have pleaded guilty.
BY ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press
With a trial approaching, most defendants in the federal case against a Kansas group that claims to be an American Indian tribe have deserted their self-described "grand chief" to make deals with prosecutors.
The latest defection came Thursday as Chuck Flynn, one of the so-called tribal chiefs, pleaded guilty to harboring illegal immigrants. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed to a proposed sentence of a year and a day in prison.
Prosecutors contend the Kaweah Indian Nation defrauded legal and illegal immigrants across the nation by telling them tribal membership conferred U.S. citizenship and would allow immigrants to obtain other documents and benefits, including Social Security cards.
Prosecutors claim the tribe is fake. But even if it were real, tribal membership would not make someone a U.S. citizen.
Last year, federal prosecutors charged 11, including the grand chief and the Wichita-based tribe, in a 17-count indictment. Charges have since been dismissed against one defendant, and three have pleaded guilty to varying charges.
Another three defendants are expected to plead guilty before trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson said outside the courtroom Thursday.
As part of his plea deal, Flynn admitted in court that he helped process membership applications and fees.
"By so doing, the defendant was encouraging aliens to come to or reside in the United States in reckless disregard of whether their coming to or residing in the United States would be in violation of law," according to the agreement.
U.S. District Judge Wesley Brown is not bound by the plea deal when he sentences Flynn on Oct. 9. But if Brown rejects the proposed sentence, Flynn would be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea.
Flynn, 51, and his defense attorney, Douglas Adams Jr., declined to comment outside the courtroom.
The trial of Malcolm Webber, also known as Grand Chief Thunderbird IV, along with any other remaining defendants, is scheduled for Aug. 5.
Webber, 70, of Bel Aire, is charged with four counts of harboring illegal immigrants, one count of possession of false documents with intent to defraud the United States, three counts of conspiracy with intent to defraud the United States, one count of mail fraud and one count of producing false identification documents.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs denied Webber's request for federal recognition of his Kaweah Indian Nation in 1984. The agency said Webber is not an American Indian and that his organization has no historical characteristics of an Indian tribe.
In addition to Flynn, two other defendants have pleaded guilty.
Jaime Cervantes, a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty in April to submitting a Social Security application in which he falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen.
Eduviges Del Carmen-Zamora of Wichita, a native of El Salvador, pleaded guilty last week to failing to report to authorities that immigrants were being defrauded.
Her husband, Angel O. Zamora, a citizen of Guatemala, is expected to enter a plea next week, Anderson said.
A plea deal has also been reached with Flynn's wife, Debra J. Flynn of Wichita, Anderson said.
A plea hearing is scheduled for Britton A. Bergman of Wichita on Tuesday.
That leaves for trial Webber and the Kaweah Indian Nation, along with Hector Nolasco Pena, a citizen of Honduras who lived in Oklahoma City, and Victor W. Orellana, a citizen of Mexico who lived in Long Beach, Calif.
Additional plea deals with those defendants are still possible, Anderson said.
Another indicted defendant, Jorge B. Villareal, a citizen of Mexico who lived in Bell Flower, Calif., has not been found, he said.
