Former Apache Tribal Secretary-Treasurer/Tax Commissioner Sentenced to 27 Months for Embezzling from Tribe

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK—Today, EMILY ANNE SAUPITTY, 53, of Apache, Oklahoma, was sentenced by United States District Judge Timothy D. DeGuisti to serve 27 months in federal prison for embezzlement from the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma, announced Robert J. Troester, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. In addition, Judge DeGuisti also ordered Saupitty to serve two years of supervised release upon her release from prison and pay $107,627.65 in restitution to the tribe. She was ordered to pay $2,100 in special assessments.

In December of 2008, a federal jury found Saupitty guilty of 33 counts of embezzlement from the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma. Evidence presented at trial showed that Saupitty is a member of the Apache Tribe and was elected in 1998 as Secretary-Treasurer of the Tribe. In 1999, she was authorized by the Tribe to transact business on behalf of the Tribe’s Tax Commission as a Tax Commissioner. Saupitty received tax checks from oil companies for taxes on tribal land.

In January of 2003, Saupitty opened a bank account in Lawton, Oklahoma, which she named the “Apache Tax Commission” account. She opened it without the authorization or knowledge of the Tribe, with herself as the only signatory and her home address as the shipping address for the account. Evidence also showed that in 2003 and 2004, Saupitty received eight checks payable to the “Apache Tax Commission” totaling $107,627.65 for oil and gas taxes. Saupitty deposited those checks into the Lawton bank account, paid a geologist and attorney who helped collect the taxes, and then used the remaining funds to purchase a computer for her home, pay for travel for herself and friends, and spread money around to gain political support as she ran for Tribal offices. The Apache Tribe maintained bank accounts in Anadarko into which the taxes were to be deposited. Evidence showed that the Tribe received none of the money deposited into Saupitty’s Lawton bank account.

Saupitty was indicted by a federal grand jury in May of 2008 charging her with 33 counts of embezzlement of $46,068. The trial lasted ten days, after with the jury found her guilty on all counts.

Saupitty was ordered to report on September 24, 2009, to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving her sentence.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa Black.

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