Last defendant to be sentenced for Choctaw Nation casino fraud

Monday, April 27, 2015

Jason Merida, the former head of construction for the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, is seen on a 2009 hunting excursion that was financed by a company that defrauded the tribe. Photo from Pueblo of Acoma Big Game Trophy Hunts

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The last known defendant in a casino corruption case tied to the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma will be sentenced next week.

Jason Brett Merida, a tribal member who oversaw construction contracts, was found guilty last November on six out of seven bribery, theft, money laundering and tax fraud charges. A federal jury convicted him after hearing that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts, trips and other items of value from companies that performed casino work.

Merida is due to be sentenced at 1:30pm on May 5 at the federal courthouse in Muskogee. He will be the eighth person punished in connection with a case that started when the tribe was over-billed for a casino expansion project.

“If he didn’t get what he wanted, you weren’t going to get the job,” FBI Special Agent Jeff Youngblood, also Choctaw, said of Merida's "pay to play" scheme.

This photo from October 2012 shows the addition of a hotel to the Choctaw Casino in Pocola, Oklahoma. Photo from Facebook

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Merida was the only person who went to trial. Although sentencing documents are currently sealed from the public, federal prosecutors are seeking anywhere from 14 years to 17.5 years in prison for the tribe's former employee, according to another filing in the case.

If Judge James H. Payne agrees with the recommendation, Merida would be sentenced to a prison term far longer than any of the other defendants. His attorneys are asking for a downward variance, arguing that their client wasn't as culpable as some of the other co-conspirators.

"Mr. Merida has no prior criminal history at all (no prior convictions and no prior arrests), the offenses did not involve acts of violence or possession/distribution of controlled drugs, and there is a dramatic disparity between the guideline range stated in the final version of the presentence report and the sentences imposed against his co-conspirators, two of those whose conduct was far more culpable than that of Merida," his attorneys wrote in a court filing on Saturday.

In 2010, then-assistant chief Gary Batton hunting trip that was financed by a company whose executives pleaded guilty for defrauding the Choctaw Nation. One of those executives -- Brent Alan Parsons -- is seen here with Batton. Photo from Pueblo of Acoma Big Game Trophy Hunts

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Those two defendants are Brent Alan Parsons and Lauri Ann Parsons, a husband and wife team who used their company, Builders Steel, to bilk the tribe out of $8.5 million in a fraudulent deal for the expansion of the Choctaw Casino in Pocola. Both pleaded guilty and testified against Merida last year

Brent Parsons was sentenced to five years and was ordered to pay nearly $4 million in restitution to the tribe. His wife was sentenced to 3.8 years and $3.5 million in restitution.

The Parsons surrendered to federal authorities on Wednesday. Brent (Prisoner No. 06459-063) is being held at FCI El Reno in Oklahoma and Lauri (Prisoner No. 06458-063) is being held in Texas.

Of the other defendants, Robert DeWayne Gifford, a former executive at Flintco, another company that did business with the tribe, was sentenced to four years earlier this month. Cordell Alan Bugg, also formerly with Flintco, received three years probation.

James Winfield Stewart (Prisoner No. 06461-063) was sentenced to 21 months in prison and is being held in Mississippi. The last two defendants -- Jerry Mark Eshenroder and Allen Mark Franklin -- each saw three years probation.

In addition to facing prison, Merida could be ordered to pay about $577,000 in restitution. He has previously indicated that he will take his case to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Then-assistant chief Gary Batton and then-chief Greg Pyle celebrate at the opening of a new Choctaw Nation casino in Durant, Oklahoma, in February 2010. Photo from Facebook

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The tribe released a statement after Merida's verdict but soon deleted it from its website. Chief Gary Batton, who testified at the trial, has said he will strengthen ethics policies -- he admitted that he accepted $27,500 from companies that did business with the tribe when he was serving as assistant chief, an unelected position.

Former Chief Greg Pyle also testified and admitted that he accepted nearly $235,000 from outside companies. He retired in April 2014 -- Batton was elevated to the chief's position and is now running for election.

The tribe sued Builders Steel and Flintco, which was Indian-owned up until being acquired by a larger company in 2013, in state court after learning that it had been defrauded. Batton has said that the tribe recovered "most of the overcharges" as part of a settlement with Flintco whose terms haven't been disclosed.

Relevant Documents:
Indictment: US v. Jason Brett Merida | Record of FBI Interview | Memorandum of Interview from Department of Treasury | Trial Brief by US Attorney's Office | Jason Merida Brief Accusing Batton and Pyle | US Motion Seeking to Prevent Jason Merida from Bringing up Batton and Pyle | Flintco Statement | Michael Burrage Email: Batton and Pyle Accepted Gifts