Prison sentence urged for fake Indian claim

Ronald Roberts, 57, of Granville used fake documents in bid to gain federal recognition of tribe

By Michelle Morgan Bolton

ALBANY -- The first person ever prosecuted for faking documents to get federal acknowledgment of a purported Indian tribe could earn prison time, now that an appeals court has kicked his case back for resentencing.

Washington County slate salesman Ronald Roberts, 57, of Granville -- also known as Sachem Golden Eagle -- was sentenced to home detention and probation in June 2004, after pleading guilty to reduced counts of fraud and perjury six days into his federal trial.

Roberts admitted using false documents to support his 1997 request to President Clinton and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs for recognition of the Western Mohegan tribe.

After faking his own genealogy, a grandfather's death certificate and the 1845 state census, he also admitted perjury for using his son's Social Security number in an unrelated 1996 bankruptcy filing.

Roberts, who claims American Indian heritage, sought the tribal designation so he could open a casino in Ellenville, bankrolled by millions of dollars from out-of-town investors, federal prosecutors said.

Now, U.S. Inspector General Earl E. Devaney wants to make an example of Roberts, asking U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn in a letter included in the case file to hold him accountable for his crimes.

Although Roberts could face 15 to 21 months behind bars, his attorney, Edward Z. Menkin of Syracuse, says Roberts has suffered enough: "He was convicted almost two years ago of nonviolent crimes which occurred between eight and nine years ago. He has already served six months of home confinement ... and he has been publicly (and widely) humiliated."

Roberts is also recovering from a car accident, Menkin said.

A federal appeals court on July 6 sent the case back to Albany after prosecutors claimed Roberts' sentencing was erroneous. The appeal was pending in January when the Supreme Court held, in United States vs. Booker, federal sentencing guidelines are advisory, not mandatory.

In a memorandum to Kahn, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Storch asked the judge to remember the economic motivation for Roberts' crimes, as he issues a sentence. Roberts tried to extort his way into a relationship with the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut by threatening a public feud that could threaten the group's public financing, Storch said.

"Moreover ... Roberts' bankruptcy fraud was not an isolated instance of misconduct, but a pattern of identity theft and financial fraud extending over many years and numerous accounts," Storch said.