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TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA - Two former Tribal Councilors pleaded no contest last month in District Court to criminal charges for use of Cherokee Nation funds to pay for personal attorney expenses in 2003.

Former Dist. 1 (Cherokee County) Councilor Don Crittenden and former Dist. 6 (Mayes County) Councilor Stephanie Wickliffe-Shepherd pleaded no contest Sept. 16 to the charges of making a fraudulent claim against CN and conspiracy to make a fraudulent claim against CN.

The case against former Dist. 3 (Sequoyah County) Councilor Mary Flute-Cooksey, who was also charged, was reset for Oct. 21 because her attorney did not notify her of the Sept. 16 court date, court officials said.

According to court documents, the former councilors paid Tulsa attorney Richard Toon $10,447 with CN funds to represent them when they challenged the tribe's 2003 general election results.

The three lost their council seats in that election.

Documents show that in June 2003 Crittenden, Flute-Cooksey and Wickliffe-Shepherd signed a contract with Toon and agreed to reimburse him for "expenses incurred." The following month the Toon Law Firm was paid using CN funds.

Title 26, Section 102(A) of the tribe's codes prohibits the use of public funds to pay an individual's attorney fees to contest a tribal election.

Accounting documents show that each of the three councilors expended $3,482.37 of their own Tribal Council legal expense fund and that they filed the election appeal petition as "a current council representative."

The three councilors lost the appeal after the tribe's Judicial Appeal Tribunal ruled 2-1 against them.

Court documents also show that in August 2003 the three also attempted to use tribal funds to pay a private law firm in a suit by Cherokee Freedmen descendants in their lawsuit against the United States.

According to court documents, Crittenden and Shepherd do not admit guilt to the charges by pleading no contest, and they are to be placed under unsupervised probation for six months.

Upon completion of six months without probation violation, the no contest pleas shall be expunged from their records and the charges shall be dismissed, court records state. A court date of March 17, 2006, has been set for those proceedings.

Wickliffe-Shepherd's attorney Nathan Young III said as part of a plea bargain, both he and his client, Crittenden and his attorney Holly Chennault and the CN Justice Department agreed not to comment on the case.

Sammy Rusco, CN communications officer, said the tribe had no comment on the Sept. 16 decision.

In a civil case ruling concerning the $10,447, District Court Judge John Cripps wrote in April that the ex-councilors had to pay back the money used to pay for Toon's services. On Aug. 8, Cripps signed the order for Crittenden and Wickliffe-Shepherd to pay back the money, but excluded Flute-Cooksey because she had filed for bankruptcy and was including her tribal debt as part of it.

Court officials said Crittenden paid $3,482.37 - one-third of the money used to pay Toon - along with court costs the day of his no contest plea. Wickliffe-Shepherd paid her $60 court costs the same day, and has 30 days from Sept. 16 to pay her share of the $10,447, court officials said.

Contact, Travis Snell, by phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2358) or by e-mail: tsnell@cherokee.org.

Related Cherokee Nation contact information: Cherokee Phoenix and Indian Advocate "Celebrating 175 years of Native American Journalism" "The Cherokee Phoenix has moved from a quarterly to a monthly publication."