MIAMI (AP) – The Miccosukee Indian tribe in South Florida says its members could owe nearly $26 million to the Internal Revenue Service because of bad legal advice.

The tribe is blaming its former attorney Dexter Lehtinen, who is also a former Miami U.S. attorney and husband of U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla. The tribe claims Lehtinen gave misleading advice about whether individual members had to pay federal income taxes out of casino gambling distributions.

The tribe itself is considered a sovereign nation not required to pay income taxes. But the IRS says individual members do have to pay.

Lehtinen's attorney told The Miami Herald that the Miccosukees are trying to shift blame to him to cover up mistakes by their own leaders. Lehtinen represented the tribe on a variety of issues from 1992 until he was fired in 2010 following a change in Miccosukee leadership.

The tribe has filed a malpractice lawsuit seeking damages against Lehtinen over the tax issue; Lehtinen is seeking to have it thrown out.

“Those folks left him high and dry,” said Lehtinen's lawyer, Joseph Klock. “Their case is absolutely ridiculous.”

Klock did not respond Monday to an email seeking further comment from The Associated Press. There was also no response from two tribe attorneys.

According to the Miccosukees, more than 100 of its members could owe the IRS $25.8 million in back taxes, penalties and interest from money they got from the tribe's casino west of Miami.

The IRS, meanwhile, is continuing to audit the tribe's 600 members. A hearing is set Feb. 24 in federal court on an IRS effort to subpoena personal financial records from 2010, which the tribe contends is overbroad.

Lehtinen contends that he privately advised the tribe about its members' potential tax liability and that they should create a reserve fund in case the IRS prevailed in their dispute. Under past leaders, $20 million was set aside but Lehtinen said the fund was “dissipated” after the new leadership took over in 2009.

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Information from: The Miami Herald, http://www.herald.com