FARGO (KFGO) – A former tribal government official of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (MHA Nation) was sentenced yesterday in federal court to five years in prison for his role in a financial fraud and corruption scheme on North Dakota’s Fort Berthold Reservation.
58-year-old Randall Phelan of Mandaree was an elected representative on the MHA Nation’s Tribal Business Council from 2013 to 2020. Court documents show Phelan solicited and accepted bribes and kickbacks totaling more than $645,000 from a contractor operating in Fort Berthold during his entire tenure.
In exchange for payments, Phelan used his official position to help the contractor’s business, including by awarding millions of dollars in contracts and undermining competitive bidding processes.
Phelan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and wire fraud in October.
Phelan was one of three tribal officials originally charged with receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from the bribery scheme on the oil-rich reservation. The contractor pleaded guilty to bribery and was sentenced to a year in prison for his role in the scheme. Prosecutors said the business received more than $17 million over the past decade for construction work on the reservation.
