The latest round concluded with a federal judge ordering would-be vice chairman Sammy Blackbear to repay $17,300 in a theft case that sprung from the tiny band's ongoing leadership dispute.

U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell ordered Blackbear to pay restitution to Zions Bank, the ultimate victim of Blackbear's crime, theft from an Indian tribe.

Zions was one of three banks Blackbear and two other tribal members accessed, with the help of attorney Duncan Steadman, after a 2001 tribal election.

Along with Steadman, Marlinda Moon as the supposed newly elected tribal chairman and Miranda Wash as secretary, Blackbear closed tribal accounts at Zions, Bank One and Brighton Bank to consolidate them into one they controlled. The funds amounted to nearly $1.4 million.

But, the federal government alleges, the election was invalid and the group used phony legal paperwork to tap into the accounts.

"He [Blackbear] simply had no authorization to spend on behalf of the tribe," Assistant U.S. Attorney Stanley H. Olsen told Campbell at the Friday restitution hearing.

Moon, Wash and Steadman are set to stand trial in September, the week before Blackbear's sentencing. Besides having to pay restitution, Blackbear faces up to five years of jail time and a fine of up to $250,000.

The original charges could have landed Blackbear in jail for more than five years and a fine of up to $250,000. But, in March, prosecutors reduced the theft charge and dropped five bank fraud charges against Blackbear in exchange for a guilty plea and his help in prosecuting their fraud and theft case against Skull Valley Chairman Leon D. Bear.

Defense attorney David Finlayson told the judge Blackbear had used the money for travel and other expenses related to tribal affairs, such as paying past-due phone bills, attorney fees and a tribal child-welfare worker.

Bear, who, with his niece, continues to lead the 171-member tribe, was sentenced last month to three years probation, back taxes and fines, and $31,542 in restitution for embezzling tribal funds and cheating on his taxes.

Blackbear has been challenging Bear's leadership for years. He and his executive committee have been among Bear's harshest critics, and they believed they had won in the disputed 2002 election.

The dissidents also accused him of misusing funds from Goshute ventures, including revenues from the use of reservation lands for a multibillion-dollar storage site for high-level nuclear waste now awaiting a license from the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Blackbear and other dissidents have asked for help from state and federal courts, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and an NRC licensing panel only to have them all say the corruption allegations are beyond their jurisdictions.

Under Bear's leadership, the tribe sued Zions, and in October 2002, Zions paid an undisclosed settlement that was slightly less than the $45,800 Blackbear's group had withdrawn shortly after the election. Because the bank had compensated the Goshutes, it was the bank that was owed money.

Prosecutors are expected to seek more restitution for Zions in the September trial.

fahys@sltrib.com