JANET ANDREA GRANDCHAMP SENTENCED IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT

Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on June 5, 2006, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, JANET ANDREA GRANDCHAMP, a 38-year-old resident of Frazer, appeared for sentencing. GRANDCHAMP was sentenced to a term of:

* ? Probation: 5 years

* ? Restitution: $8,000 ($150/month)

* ? Special Assessment: $100

GRANDCHAMP was sentenced in connection with her guilty plea to theft from an Indian tribal organization.

In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

GRANDCHAMP was the site manager for the Nakoda Trails Stop Store ("NTSS") in Frazer, Montana, from 1997 to November 2002.

GRANDCHAMP began stealing approximately $300.00 per month from the NTSS in about December 1999. Her modus operandi was to skim cash from daily deposits by shifting funds from recent sales into the deposits attributed to past days to cover for the cash she stole from the past days' deposits.

GRANDCHAMP decided that she had to report her behavior after she became aware that investigators were looking into the theft of money from the tribal convenience stores. She was concerned that the investigators would discover what she had done. This concern caused her to report her behavior to another individual, who was familiar with the records of the tribal convenience stores.

This individual subsequently performed a limited audit of the NTSS' records. The results of this audit revealed that $11,269.71 was missing from the NTSS for the period of July 3, 2002, to September 17, 2002.

This individual and GRANDCHAMP then approached a Fort Peck Tribal Council member in November 2002 and informed him that GRANDCHAMP stole money from the NTSS.

On the same day, the Fort Peck Tribal Chairperson learned from GRANDCHAMP that she stole money from the NTSS. GRANDCHAMP also authored a letter to her husband in November 2002 within which she admitted that she knew that she stole at least $8,000.00 from the store.

The deposit slips from the NTSS for the period of July 2002 through September 2002 confirm that no cash was deposited on 16 days between July 3, 2002, and September 8, 2002. Glaring irregularities were observed in the deposits for other days during that time period. GRANDCHAMP was the only employee of the NTSS who was responsible for depositing the store's funds.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that GRANDCHAMP will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, GRANDCHAMP does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig W. Haller prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Fort Peck Criminal Investigation Division, and the Inspector General's Office of the United States Department of the Interior.