Ex-California tribal official pleads guilty in $17M fraud

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – The former administrator of an Indian tribe in the Sacramento area has pleaded guilty to helping steal more than $17 million in a kickback scheme.

The Sacramento Bee says Gregory Baker of Newcastle entered the plea Thursday in federal court to conspiracy to commit mail or wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and filing a false federal income tax. He could get a 6 1/2-year sentence under a plea deal.

Baker was an administrator for the United Auburn Indian Community, which owns the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln.

Prosecutors say that in 2006 and 2007 he took kickbacks and approved inflated invoices from a contractor who was working on a massive tribal building project.

The contractor, Bart Volen, pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy last year.