The former chairman of Massachusetts’ Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, sentenced to prison for accepting exercise equipment, a luxury hotel stay and other bribes from an architectural firm working with the tribe on a casino, has to pay back nearly $210,000, a judge ordered.
Cedric Cromwell, former chair of the Cape Cod-based tribe, also known as the People of the First Light, was sentenced to three years in prison in Boston in November. David DeQuattro, the owner of the Rhode Island architecture and design firm, was sentenced to a year of probation under home confinement.
Cromwell had apologized in court. His attorneys have asked for a stay of his sentence and restitution, pending an appeal.
U.S. Attorney Rachel Rollins of Massachusetts said the judgment, entered against Cromwell on Tuesday, “rightly addresses the immense harm these men inflicted upon the Mashpee Wampanoag Nation – harm to its reputation through Mr. Cromwell’s corruption; to its economic development through massive project delays and lost resources; and harm to its financial resources through the significant legal fees and expenses generated in their steadfast support and compliance with our investigation.”
Cromwell was convicted of two counts of accepting bribes as an agent of an Indian tribal government, three counts of extortion under color of official right and one count of conspiring to commit extortion in May of bribery and extortion charges. DeQuattro was convicted of one count of paying a bribe to an agent of an Indian tribal government.
The scheme, as the Herald has reported, began with Cromwell creating a new corporate entity called One Nation Development LLC, which he described on its website as an entity for the good of the community, but was really a shell company to hide his bribes, according to court docs. In November 2015, the LLC received a $10,000 check from DeQuattro and Cromwell used the money on personal expenses.
In August 2016, Cromwell asked DeQuattro for exercise equipment and received a $1,700 Bowflex, which he complained was used. The Seaport hotel stay, worth more than $1,800, came next in May 2017.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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