fbpx
 

PORTLAND, Ore. — A former manager of Warm Springs Construction Enterprise (WSCE), a company wholly owned by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, pleaded guilty on Monday in federal court for his role to defraud the tribe of more than $50,000.

Thomas Valentino Adams, who is not a tribal citizen, pleaded guilty to theft of funds from a tribal organization. 

Valentino and an accomplice, Roderick Ariwite, were indicted last September for conspiring to misappropriate $93,700 of tribal funds and with five counts of substantive misappropriation of tribal funds.

According to court documents, the Warm Springs Economic Development Corporation, also known as Warm Springs Ventures, operates as the management organization for several tribal business entities, including WSCE.

Adams and Ariwite, the former CEO of WSEDC, created a construction company called Warbonnet Construction Services LLC. While on payroll for Warm Springs Ventures, the two worked on projects for Warbonnet. In 2018, Adams and Ariwite hired a subcontractor for a Warbonnet project and then billed for expenses incurred as they took funds for themselves and Warbonnet, which were paid for with tribal funds. 

The scheme cost the tribe more than $50,000.

After his plea on Monday, Adams was scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Mosman on Nov. 15, 2021. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. 

Adams has agreed to pay $4,859 in restitution to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. 

Ariwite is on pretrial release pending a three-day jury trial scheduled to begin on September 14, 2021.

Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement.

This case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Warm Springs Police Department. It was prosecuted by Meredith Bateman and Seth Uram, Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the District of Oregon.

Warm Springs Construction Enterprise (WSCE) began as a department of the Warm Springs Tribal Government and struck out as a small tribal enterprise in 2001, according to the tribe's website.  WSCE is wholly owned by the Tribe and operates at around 85% native employment.  The firms has decades of government contracting and a focus on of civil infrastructure installation.

More Stories Like This

WATCH: Native Bidaské with Podcast Co-hosts Crystal Hernandez and Shauna Humphreys
UP CLOSE: With Chuck Sams, First Native American to Lead the National Park Service
Native News Weekly (March 19, 2023): D.C. Briefs
Head Coach Kelvin Sampson (Lumbee) Leads Houston Cougars to NCAA Basketball Tournament Sweet 16
Learn Why the Choctaw Nation and Ireland Maintain Kindred Spirits

12 years of Native News

This month, we celebrate our 12th year of delivering Native News to readers throughout Indian Country and beyond. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.

Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation this month to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and to tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.

Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you. 

About The Author
Native News Online Staff
Author: Native News Online StaffEmail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Native News Online is one of the most-read publications covering Indian Country and the news that matters to American Indians, Alaska Natives and other Indigenous people. Reach out to us at [email protected]