Jicarilla Apache Nation leaders targeted over financial losses

Thursday, August 9, 2018  

The Jicarilla Apache Nation suffered more than $2 million in losses at one of its casinos in New Mexico and some tribal citizens want to see their leaders held accountable.

According to a forensic audit seen by The Rio Grande Sun, the former chief financial officer at the Apache Nugget Travel Center and Casino engaged in questionable spending and embezzlement after he was hired at the insistence of the tribe's top leader. Chad Eaton, whose mother serves on the tribal council, had a $1.3 million effect on the facility's cash balances and a $744,792 effect on profits, the paper reported.

Tribal citizens are now circulating a petition to have Eaton removed from his job. After he left the casino, he became the tribe's comptroller, the paper reported.

A second petition seeks the impeachment of President Levi Pesata, who had ordered Eaton's hiring at the casino, while a third calls for the removal of Sheryl Vigil, who is Eaton's mother.

“This is a fight about three individuals, conspiring and not holding another individual accountable and the fact that we entrusted our leadership to speak for us and stand for all of us equally,” Jennifer Muskrat, who is working with family members on the petitions, told the paper.

The audit was conducted at the insistence of Apache Nugget's board because the tribe's gaming commission refused to order one, the paper reported. Eaton's sister happens to be the chair of the regulatory body.

Atkinson & Co. LTD, a certified public accounting firm in New Mexico, conducted the audit, the paper reported. It was delivered to tribal leaders and other tribal officials in November but does not appear to have resulted in any actions so far.

"No one can hide from the sun, moon and stars. Creator is watching, the people are watching," Muskrat wrote on social media in a post which said her family plans to move forward with the petitions on Friday. "The truth always spills out, and you only dig yourself deeper when you try to run from the light."

Read More on the Story:
Embezzlement Drives Apache President's Recall (The Rio Grande Sun August 9, 2018)