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Show I 1 'Sham tribe' By Geoff Liesik Uintah Basin News Service A federal judge has ruled that three men who claim to be Indians and a fourth man who operates an arbitration council used fraudulent civil judgments to retaliate against officials in Uintah and Duchesne counties. U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Ste-phen R Friot ruled last Tuesday that James W. Burbank, Martin T. Campbell, Dale N. Stevens, and Tvomas Smith used three organizations to try to intimidate government officials and extort money from them, in violation of the federal civil Rackeeter Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Orga-nizations Act. Burbank, Campbell and Stevens Ste-vens all claim to be members of a group called the Wampanoag Nation, Tribe of Grayhead, Wolf Band. The group- formed in 2003 in a Provo Arby's restaurant - is not affiliated with the Massachusetts-based Wampanoag Tribe, which is federally-recognized. Friot said the Arby 's-founded Wampanoag tribe was used by Burbank, Campbell and Stevens Ste-vens "as an instrument for the perpetration of fraud, for the purpose of attempting to commit extortion, and for the purpose of obstructing justice." "As an Indian tribe, the Wampanoag Wam-panoag Nation is a complete sham," the judge said, pointing to the fact that Stevens granted one individual membership in the group because "he is a believer in fighting for liberty." As for Smith, he calls himself Engineering effort repairs 2005 flood damage on Ashley Creek ByKevtmAshby Express Publisher It's been three years since flooding damaged areas of Ashley Ash-ley Creek, but engineers and construction crews are working to restore portions of the creek damaged by floods in 2005. "We do try to continually fix problems along the rivers each year, but this particular area was hit hard in 2005 by the floods and washed it out," explained Brad Weber, engineering technician for the division of the Utah Division Divi-sion of Water Rights. Weber explained the division currently has four permit? on Utah Down A non-profit organization established in 1977, the UTAH DOWN SYNDROME FOUNDATION provides outreach, training, counseling, support, education, information, and activities for individuals with Down syndrome, their parents and families, and the community. With 14 chapters throughout the state, this volunteer organization has grown to become Utah's largest support provider for the Down syndrome community. The UDSF strives to bring families together to share experiences, challenges, goals, and dreams and to educate parents and society irr understanding and appreciating the needs of individuals with Down syndrome. 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CALL OR EMAIL TODAY TO GET ON OUR MAILING LIST 877-499-UDSF 801-446-1994 WWW.UDSF.ORG ftEMEMBEft - A 3A3Y flKST )e are here to- support yow loses federal the presiding patriarch of The Order of the White Light, a corporation formed in Duchesne County in 2003 that also does business under the guise of the Western Arbitration Council. Friot said Smith conspired with the other three men to create phony arbitration judgments judg-ments against former Uintah County Sheriff Rick Hawkins, Uintah County Sheriff's Lt. John Laursen, Uintah County Attorney JoAnn Stringham, Duchesne County Justice Court Judge Clair Poulson, and Vernal City Attorney Clark McClellan. Some of the judgments - $250 million alone against Stringham - were recorded with the central filing office of the Utah Division of Corporations. The recorded judgments harmed the personal credit of the individuals targeted by Burbank, Campbell, Stevens and Smith, the judge noted. Friot's ruling came at the close of a two-day civil RICO trial that sprang from a 2004 lawsuit filed by Burbank against a litany of federal, state, and local agencies and officials. Burbank argued that his truck should not have been impounded by Laursen following a 2003 traffic stop in Maeser because it was an "Indian licensed vehicle." Laursen, Hawkins, and Stringham were among the individuals listed in Burbank's complaint as defendants in his civil suit. Attorneys for Uintah County filed a counterclaim against Burbank, Campbell, Stevens, andSmith,arguingthat the men's actions constituted different areas of Ashley Creek that need improvements, but only two have been approved, including one located between 2500 West and 3500 West. "This one was washed out enough to start threatening houses in the area," said Weber. The second permit already approved ap-proved addresses a diversion structure on the Upper Highline Canal. County road superintendent Quentin Johnson explained the rock needed for the rip raft was donated by Simplot.' "Whatever the county needs to fix the creek was what I was told by Simplot .officials,'' said Syndrome Foundation t P. j i ' 3 'I I 1 '4 Wrmi.iiM.at ILiJjbU Vernal RICO case civil RICO violations. "I think this is the first time county law enforcement has used the federal rackeetering statute to shut down a criminal enterprise," enter-prise," said Jesse Trentadue, who represented Uintah County in the case. "Apparently the way (Burbank, Campbell, Stevens and Smith) have treated people, it's a bit of comeuppance." Friot, who was brought in from Oklahoma to hear the case after all of the federal judges in Utah recused themselves because they were listed in Burbank's lawsuit, awarded the county $63,000 in damages and directed Trentadue to file a request for attorney's fees within 14 days. He also required Burbank and Stevens to sign releases for the arbitration judgments they'd filed with the state before leaving the courtroom. When contacted on Friday for comment, Campbell, who uses the name Spirit Walker and maintains that he is still the chief of tribal law enforcement for the Wampanoag Nation, said Friot failed to understand that it was Stevens alone who chose retaliate against local officials with phony judgments. "There's two individual groups here," Campbell said, claiming that the Wampanoags "dismissed" Stevens from the tribe in 2005. "We have nothing to do with Dale Stevens, but yet he keeps dragging us into this mess." Campbell added that his group, which he said is seeking seek-ing federal recognition, is in no Johnson. County crews manning five trucks made six trips each or 30 loads a day to the area. Before it was over, crews had smoothed over 80 to 90 loads to secure the creek from future erosion. Quentin said funding for the project is through a flood fund set up by the county many years ago. Weber explained although the runoff this year was back to what used to be a normal amount, areas like this one still need to be fixed before further damage is done during a flood year. Work will continue on the other three projects this year if approval is received. Express way affiliated with the Order of the White Light or the Western Arbitration Council. He said his group's only goal is to offer a place where other unaffiliated individuals in-dividuals with American Indian heritage can come together and "take part in a government ... in what we have been given under international law to maintain our culture." Campbell, Stevens, Burbank, and Smith could possibly face federal criminal charges. However, How-ever, Friot's ruling that the four men had committed numerous violations of state and federal law - including rackeetering, mail fraud and conspiracy - was based on a finding of the preponderance prepon-derance of the evidence. For a criminal conviction, prosecutors must prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. Foley Case Continued from Al gone surgery in the past. He said the lens on Foley's right eye detached before he entered his plea due to vomiting, making mak-ing it difficult for him to read detailed documents without time to rest. Assistant Utah Attorney General Shelley Coudreaut had pointed out that Foley appeared to have no difficulty reading documents during a meeting with state insurance investigator Rick , Angel and a Vernal police detective. detec-tive. Goff said the documents in question were familiar to Foley, which allowed him to read them easily. The defense attorney also argued ar-gued that Foley had suffered an acute anxiety attack on the morning morn-ing he was scheduled to enter his plea. In response to that attack, Goff said Foley took six times his prescribed dose of Xanax, which he argued would have impacted Foley's ability to understand the court proceedings, especially espe-cially when compounded with the symptoms of his achalasia. However, Goff conceded that his client never mentioned his over-use of Xanax when asked by Thomas if he had taken any drugs or alcohol that might impact his ability to enter his plea. "He was concerned as to how his disclosure would affect the status of his plea agreement," Goff said, characterizing Foley as fearful that Coudreaut was losing patience with him. The defense attorney also said that Foley did not have a chance to adequately review the contents of his plea agreement before the l November hearing. He said Foley mmy msa sssSebu (fern Kameron Dearing is a defensive end for the Uintah High Football team. During practice in September of 2007 he was doing cross-over exercises when he felt something give in his leg. The next day, before practice, he spoke with the Sports Medicine Team from Ashley Regional Medical Center. They suggested he not practice until he had further medical evaluation; they were concerned that he might have a meniscus tear. An MRI verified a medial meniscus tear and a torn ACL. After his surgery, Kameron came to Ashley Regional f Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation for treatment of his post-surgical injury. Mark Slaugh, Physical Therapist, worked with Kameron. "We have specific protocols for rehabilitation from each physician we work with. We applied the protocols specified by Kameron's physician, j and he did very well." f "I felt very comfortable with Mark," said Kameron. "He's a good guy." The Sports Medicine Team boys and girls. They tape-up treatment when needed. Ashley Regional MEDICAL CENTER f Wednesday, only received the plea paperwork 10 to 15 minutes before the hearing hear-ing and had to have Coudreaut write in a promise not to oppose a reduction at a later date in the offense levels of the charges he was pleading guilty to. Finally, Goff said Foley was intimidated by Angel during the open stages of the interview with the Vernal police detective. detec-tive. He also claimed that Angel confronted Foley outside the courtroom in November and said he had been an LDS bishop twice and that things were "going to be better for (Foley) if he takes the plea and intimates that if you don't do it, things are going to be worse." Goff said Foley did not disclose the alleged coercion when asked by the judge whether he was being be-ing threatened into entering a guilty plea because he had "not fully digested" the comments. In countering Goff s arguments, argu-ments, Coudreaut told Thomas that the plea agreement between Foley and the state had been worked out in June 2007, well before the plea was entered. "In this case the circumstances circum-stances for the plea far surpass, " state court rules, she said. "In exchange for the defendant's plea the state agreed to dismiss 22 counts. We also agreed not to request prison time in this case. That was the bargain that he bargained for." Coudreaut told the judge there were no indications visually visu-ally or on the record to show that Foley was incapable of entering his guilty plea at the November hearing. She also noted that it wasn't until Adult Probation & Parole finished its presentence report that Foley sought to withdraw with-draw his plea. "In fact he made a statement to the AP&P investigator when asked why he entered his plea, he said it was because he wanted it done," the prosecutor told Thomas. "This was a month after he entered his plea." As for Foley's claim that he had taken too much medication before court, Coudreaut said he interacted appropriately with the judge and with his attorney. He showed no signs of impairment, she said. "There's nothing on the record to suggest, except the defendant's fabricated assertions, asser-tions, that anything was amiss," Coudreaut said. "All we have is his statement that he took five times the regular dose, but no proof that he did. He did not go to the hospital that day. He did not check in for an overdose. He did .npt haye adverse reactions. for your community at Ashley Regional provides support for all the athletes before events, triage minor A3 He drove himself to court that day." Coudreaut also told Thomas that the state had no need to coerce co-erce Foley into taking a plea. She said Foley regularly contacted her office and state investigators to disclose more information about the case against Timothy or to ask questions about the status of Timothy's case. "We've reviewed the records; we've reviewed evidence from people outside the department. Nothing suggests that Mr. Angel An-gel acted anything other than professionally or appropriately," Coudreaut told Thomas, adding that Angel remained by her side prior to the hearing where Foley entered his plea and did not confront con-front him. "There was ho reason for Mr. Angel to make any of these statements to Mr. Foley." In making his ruling, Thomas said he believed Foley had been given substantial time to consider con-sider the state's offer. The judge said he was relying specifically on Foley's statements to the court at the time he entered his plea, keying particularly on Foley's assertion as-sertion that he was not under the influence of any medication. "The court has to accept what his statement was at that time," Thomas said, adding later there was nothing in Foley's appearance appear-ance to "give the court pause." "I find it somewhat interesting today regarding one argument that was made by the defendant, and that argument is that he had a reason as to why he didn't say anything about the conditions that he was suffering from. He didn't want it to delay the proceedings pro-ceedings any further or affect the ability of the agreement with the state. "Now if that was the case, "the judge continued, "that implies that he was thinking clearly, he was processing information, he was going through a calculus as to what he considered was appropriate. ap-propriate. That statement bears significant weight in my mind today." Thomas also said Foley's allegations against Angel were "self-serving," noting that the defendant had not informed the court of any coercion on the part of the state when questioned by Thomas as he entered his plea. Coudreaut asked Thomas to sentence Foley immediately following Wednesday's ruling; however, Goff said he was not ready to proceed to sentencing. Attorneys on both sides will hold a telephone conference today, to-day, Tuesday, with the judge to set a date for sentencing. Foley remains free on bail, j and your family. May 7, 2008 "I felt very comfortable comfort-able with Mark " said Kameron. "He's a good guy." i the high school sports teams, injuries and facilitate further f |