Phelan, Grady, Reeves charged in kickback scandal
By Jerry W. Kram
A sitting member of the Three Affiliated Tribes Tribal Business Council and his segment project manager and a past member of the TBC were charged by the U.S. Justice Department with accepting kickbacks on tribal construction projects over a period of years.
West Segment Representative Randall Phelan, West Segment Project Manager Delvin Reeves, and former Four Bears Segment Frank Grady were charged with accepting bribes and kickbacks from a construction company that was a contractor or subcontractor on a number of tribal projects.
The name of the company was not revealed in affidavits documenting the charges, the owner of the company was identified as CC-1. CC-1 pleaded guilty to bribery and is cooperating with the investigation in return for a reduced sentence.
In the indictment against Phelan, he, Reeves and CC-1 are accused of allegedly devising a plan in 2013 to “defraud the MHA Nation of money by causing and facilitating the submission and payment of false and fraudulent invoices for construction and other projects ….” CC-1 provided a ledger of payments made to Phelan by cash and check to the FBI that showed 59 payments over 13 months in 2018 and 2019 totaling more than $271,000. CC-1 alleged that he paid Phelan more than $1 million in cash from 2013 to 2019.
