Yakima official in legal trouble

By Rod Antone
Yakima Herald-Republic

An elder councilman of the Yakama Nation was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving at least twice last month, casting doubt on his political standing.

Leo Ernest Aleck, 79, was arrested for DUI by the Washington State Patrol on Dec. 14 on State Route 22 near Toppenish. The State Patrol cited him with DUI again on Dec. 29, though officials from the WSP and the Yakima County Prosecutors Office could not provide further details on either arrest.

He was also arrested by tribal police for DUI and booked at the Toppenish Police Department jail Tuesday, according to Toppenish authorities. He was released Wednesday on a $500 bail bond.

Tribal police did not return calls seeking additional information Wednesday.

The recent arrests, combined with a December 2005 DUI arrest, leave Aleck's status with the council unclear.

No one from the tribe's Ethics Board could be reached for comment Wednesday, but according to the Yakama Nation's code of ethics manual, he could face removal from office.

Any elected official convicted of drug- or alcohol-related misdemeanors faces a written
reprimand and 90 days probation by the tribe's Ethics Board after a first offense. The second offense calls for a 30-day suspension from elected office without pay, while a third offense warrants indefinite suspension from office while the Ethics Board recommends to the General Council that the violator be removed from office.

Officials from the Yakama Tribal Council could not be reached Wednesday, and calls made to Aleck's home were not answered.

Court documents show Aleck was also in violation of his probation when he was pulled over Dec. 14 because of the 2005 DUI incident. State troopers arrested him Dec. 1, 2005, after he was seen weaving back and forth while driving along U.S. Highway 12, near Old Naches Highway.

According to the trooper's report in the 2005 incident, Aleck said he'd had two glasses of wine with his dinner prior to driving. His blood-alcohol level was reported at 0.165 percent and 0.149 percent, well above the state's legal limit of 0.08 percent. Though troopers originally arrested him on a DUI charge in 2005, Aleck was eventually sentenced in April 2006 to probation for a reckless driving offense.

Aleck is one of 14 members of the Yakama Nation Tribal Council, which oversees the tribe's daily operations including government, casino, and lumber mill. The tribe's General Council consists of four elected officers and general tribal membership.

A respected elder from the Klickitat band who still speaks the traditional language, Aleck has served as a council member for seven years. He was a longtime secretary of the General Council prior to that as well as being recognized as a medicine man.

Aleck is known for leading the charge to claim damages in relation to the building of The Dalles Dam and seeking compensation for salmon lost from one of the greatest tribal fishing sites along the Columbia River. He also filed a lawsuit against the Bonneville Power Administration over an expired lease on transmission lines running through his family's Columbia River Gorge property. Both lawsuits are still pending.