[Blackbear]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/ny...rtner=USERLAND



Man With Flair for Reinventing Himself Goes a Step Too Far
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.

Published: June 3, 2004


In the annals of flimflam, surely a special place has been reserved for Ronald A. Roberts, also known as Sachem Golden Eagle of the Western Mohegans.

The Golden Eagle is not flying high right now. Holed up in a dilapidated Catskill resort he bought with other investors, Mr. Roberts, 56, has pleaded guilty to federal charges of submitting false documents and perjury, and is waiting be sentenced on June 17. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

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But for several years, prosecutors say, Mr. Roberts pursued the most audacious of schemes: He tried to convince the state and federal governments that he was the descendant of a Mohegan chief and the leader of a lost tribe of American Indians around his hometown of Granville, N.Y.

The federal government says it is just not so, though Mr. Roberts, through his lawyer, continues to claim Indian roots. Being an Indian chief is the latest persona for a man who, over the years, has been an actor, a slate dealer, a country and western singer, a traveling evangelist and a small-town music impresario, acquaintances said.

Mr. Roberts's desire to be known as an Indian appeared to spring from purely financial motives, prosecutors and law enforcement officials said. Recognition from the federal government as a tribe would have entitled him and his associates to run a casino in the Catskills, but he never got that far.

Mr. Roberts even went so far as to submit to Washington a false genealogy, a doctored copy of an 1845 state census of Indians and a forgery of his grandfather's death certificate, all of which, he insisted, proved he was a descendant of prominent Indians on both sides. Federal genealogists who looked into his claims determined that he was actually a descendant of prominent European settlers.

"We had delved into both sides, and actually Mr. Roberts is eligible to be a Son of the American Revolution," said R. Lee Fleming, the director of the Office of Federal Acknowledgment in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. "Based on the evidence we have reviewed, we do not see any connection to any Native American Indians."

Earl E. Devaney, the inspector general for the Department of the Interior, has sought to make a national example of Mr. Roberts, who is the first person to be prosecuted by his office for trying to hoodwink the tribal-recognition officials at Bureau of Indian Affairs. He told Congress during a hearing earlier this month that Mr. Roberts's fraudulent petition was a perfect illustration of someone seeking "an instant opportunity to open a casino."

Since Congress passed a law in 1988 allowing legitimate Indian nations to operate casinos, about 180 unrecognized tribes and loose-knit groups of people with Indian ancestry have petitioned the federal government to be recognized as American Indian nations, officials said.

The potential financial gain for these groups is sky high. Before he pleaded guilty halfway through a trial in Albany earlier this year, Mr. Roberts had persuaded a group of Chicago investors to sink $3.5 million into the defunct Tamarack Lodge in Ellenville, N.Y., under an agreement to build a casino, according to Robert P. Storch, the assistant United States attorney who prosecuted the case. (One of the investors was set to testify against Mr. Roberts at his trial, but the judge ruled that the prosecution had already proven Mr. Roberts' financial motive.)

It was not the first time Mr. Roberts had tried to elbow his way into an Indian tribe to benefit from gaming. In May 1996, he applied to become a member of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which owns Foxwoods in Connecticut, but officials there rebuffed him, according to testimony at his trial. He got a similar reception from the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, which owns the Mohegan Sun hotel and casino.

So in 1997, Mr. Roberts started his own tribe, forming a nonprofit corporation and dubbing it the Western Mohegan Tribe and Nation. He promptly tried to open a bingo hall in Granville, a small town near the Vermont border, arguing that he was immune to state laws against gaming. A state judge shut him down after the state attorney general filed a lawsuit. State officials say he tried again in 2002, this time buying equipment to outfit a bingo parlor at the Tamarack Lodge, which he and his partners by then owned. Today it sports a sign saying "Home of the Mohegans" and a ragged banner with an insignia of a black eagle over the door. Again he backed down after the state threatened to sue.




This is a LONG and worth reading article so follow the link to the rest of the article and a picture of the guy LOL!!!

[billyjoejimbob]

I went to a powwo in Granville NY a few years back, Ill bet it was his. It was really bad. I dont even remember who the drums were.

[Blackbear]

Did you catch the part of how he forged his great grandfather or grandfather's death certificate with a ball point pen and they had'nt even been invented yet when the guy died? ROFLMAO!!!

[billyjoejimbob]

Would have been better if it was a dot matrix print out!

[FancyStar]

It's funny because as a Son of the American Revolution he can actually qualify for Gov't money that way!!
Dude, if you're going to be greedy at least look for all the diiferent ways you can do so with out getting in trouble!
What a Dum A$$! LMAO

[Tom Iron Eagle]

Agree with Fancy Star.

As a decendant of Prominent Europeans, and being a Son of The American Revolution he was set for many things.

We should all be proud of whatever our Culture and Heritage is but this is another example of someone who is not happy with their "rich and unique" ancestry.

Also a great example of how the "Indian Casino" issue is bigger and more controversial than ever.

[Blackbear]

naw.. had nothing to do with not being happy with his own rich and unique ancestry.. he just did'nt know he could get money for it, or he was too greedy and wanted to be one of us and get more money by starting a casino...

[Coyot_In_The_House]

Just read it's easy....

[billyjoejimbob]

:stooges: :16: :Eyebrows

Yup.

[Peacekeeper83]

a ball point pen eh?....sounds like another one for the Americas dumbest criminal section....

[Blackbear]

That's exactly what another mohawk I know said Peacekeepr LOL!!
Coyote... are you referring to someone in particular?

[Coyot_In_The_House]

Originally Posted by Blackbear

That's exactly what another mohawk I know said Peacekeepr LOL!!
Coyote... are you referring to someone in particular?

Not necessarily.....It's quite simple to deduce, however why join the finger pointing bandwagon? These folks come and go and usually manage to make fools of themselves all by their lonesome.

[Azhe'ni]

Originally Posted by Blackbear

Did you catch the part of how he forged his great grandfather or grandfather's death certificate with a ball point pen and they had'nt even been invented yet when the guy died? ROFLMAO!!!

LMAO! What a dumb azz! I bet he was Red!

[Blackbear]

I just found it humerous CIH... this guy was the first one that has been busted for trying this and facing criminal charges.. he is unique and special in his own greediness LOL

[La + * Mom]

Originally Posted by Blackbear

[url].....Being an Indian chief is the latest persona for a man who, over the years, has been an actor, a slate dealer, a country and western singer, a traveling evangelist and a small-town music impresario, acquaintances said.

I think he was watched Leonardo Dicaprio in "Catch Me If You Can" too many times???

What in the world is a "slate dealer"???

[Miss_Nish]

Hmm.. another one huh!!! :thunder:

At a nearby town... A young non-native woman applied for a NATIVE scholarship claiming that she was a status ndn. She sent in a fake status card with her application. AND She was accepted!! She won the scholarship!!

I'm not sure if anything was done about it...

[Privateer6]

Originally Posted by Miss_Nishnab

Hmm.. another one huh!!! :thunder:

At a nearby town... A young non-native woman applied for a NATIVE scholarship claiming that she was a status ndn. She sent in a fake status card with her application. AND She was accepted!! She won the scholarship!!

I'm not sure if anything was done about it...

Actually I believe that's ILLEGAL and there shoudl be serious repercussions. She commited FRAUD.

[Shawrakee]

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