Lafayette - In December of 2011, Jordan Hawk John, a member of the Coushatta Indian Tribe, was charged federally with simple burglary after he set fire to the Coushatta Convenience Store in Elton, La. The fire caused $249,999.94 in damage. John, 18, of Kinder, La., pled guilty on January 19, 2012, to simple burglary and was sentenced on May 24, 2012, to one year in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi ordered the defendant to pay the full amount of the fire damage plus a $1,000 fine and a $100 victim witness assessment fee.

After sentencing, the Financial Litigation Unit (FLU) for the U.S. Attorney’s Office discovered through a subpoena that, although John had not paid the ordered restitution, he had hundreds of thousands of dollars in a trust account belonging to him. Because of the efforts of FLU in seeking the money from this account, on July 16, 2012, Jordan Hawk John paid $251,099.94, which covered the full court-ordered restitution owed to the CCMSI Steadfast Insurance Company and the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, the fine and assessment fee.

Jurisdiction in Indian Country is based upon the unique sovereign relationship between the federal government and Indian tribes. Congress has criminalized certain acts that take place in Indian Country. The United States Attorney’s Office prosecutes all felony and misdemeanor cases arising in Indian Country that are within the jurisdiction of this office. The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutes cases arising in Indian Country involving felonies where either the defendant or the victim is an Indian or both the defendant and the victim are Indian. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also prosecutes cases involving misdemeanors where the defendant is a non-Indian.

The collection efforts were led by Assistant United States Attorney Ramsay C. McCullough. The criminal case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Lake Charles Resident Agency, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James T. McManus.