On Tuesday, Lori "Sue" Clum (formerly Johnson) was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Sharon Gleason to 18 months in prison for Misapplication of Tribal Funds.

Clum, who was elected as President of the Native Village of Tatitlek in October of 2007, but was voted out of office seven month later in April of 2008, would refuse to accept the results of the election and would continue to keep control of the Tribal bank accounts for another year.

During that time, Clum utilized funds from the tribal organization for her own use, she used $112,000 of the tribe’s money to gamble, pay off her personal debts, and even buy herself a four-wheeler among other items. She would continue to keep control of the accounts until her arrest on drug charges in March of 2009.

That arrest at Merril Field in Anchorage by Alaska State Troopers, that found her in possession of prescription narcotics without documentation, would result in a sentence of 30 months of probation for the charge of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance with the Intent to Distribute. A second felony drug charge was dropped as a result of the plea agreement. Clum was on her way to the village at the time of her arrest.

In January of last year, Clum was arrested again and later indicted on 21 counts of bootlegging alcohol in a dry village, drug misconduct, intent to sell drugs and weapons charges. According to charging documents, the drugs found in her possession included tar heroin, oxycodone, methadone, crystal meth, Xanax, and dihydrocodeine. Five of the weapons charges were for a felon in possession of a firearm. The charging documents also stated that Clum was charging as much as $100 a bottle for cheap vodka. The charges in that case arre still pending.

In a separate, but related case, Clum admitted to owing the village $150,000 and agreed to restitution, but very little of that money has been retrieved by the tribe. The council contended that Clum defrauded the community’s coffers of close to $600,000 but the tribe settled on $150,000 because the court case could have continued for years.

As a result of Clum’s misdeeds, the remote community of less than 100 residents, which has no road access, endured hardships that included delayed fuel shipments because of lack of funds and unpaid IRS demands that drained the village of funds. Funding comes largely from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the EPA and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Clum’s brother, James Kramer, is scheduled for sentencing on January 22nd. Kramer accepted $20,000 from Clum knowing he was not entitled to the funds. Kramer also failed to file a tax return for that money as well as additional income he recieved in 2009.