Former Cherokee Nation employee pleads guilty to embezzlement

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) – A former Cherokee Nation employee has pleaded guilty in federal court in Muskogee to embezzling money from the Tahlequah-based tribe.
Federal prosecutors said 48-year-old Tammy Kay Marshall of Welling pleaded guilty on Dec. 28 to one count of embezzlement and theft from an Indian tribe.
Prosecutors allege Marshall, a CN citizen, embezzled more than $1,000 from tribal citizens who were issued checks from the tribe’s Emergency Assistance Program.
She faces up to five years in federal prison when she’s sentenced in a few months.
Marshall’s attorney Art Fleak of Tulsa said he’s “disgusted” at the prosecution of his client and that charges never should have been filed in federal court.