Buffy Redfish sentenced to 6-5 years

RAPID CITY – On June 29, U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler sentenced Buffy Redfish to 6.5 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered her to repay more than $4.7 million in funds that she and co-defendant Patrick Ross conspired to steal from the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Judge Theeler also ordered Redfish to forfeit four properties she purchased with stolen funds. Ross will be sentenced in August 2026.

In November 2025, Redfish pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and three counts of money laundering for her role in embezzling more than $4.7 million from the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Between 2017 and 2024, while Redfish was working for the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s Tribal Employment Rights Office (TERO), she and Ross developed a scheme to defraud the Oglala Sioux Tribe by stealing 166 checks intended for TERO and depositing them into a bank account set up by Ross. Ross and Redfish then split the embezzled funds between themselves and used the funds for their own personal benefit. Redfish received over $2.1 million in kickbacks from the deposited funds, which she spent on homes, vehicles, clothing, and travel.

Redfish is an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona. Ross is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

The money Redfish and Ross stole were intended to serve critical community needs, including employment training for tribal members, economic development and community improvement projects in the nine Tribal Districts on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and numerous critical programs and services provided by the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out spoke at the sentencing hearing. He asked Judge Theeler to impose the maximum punishment allowed by law. He said that Redfish’s actions “prevented the Tribe from utilizing more than $4.7 million in tribal funds for … essential purposes. TERO was unable to provide job-site equipment and employment trainings because of budget shortfalls. Tribal Districts could not sponsor community projects … The Tribe was deprived of critical revenue that could have – and should have – been used to help so many of our tribal members by providing essential government services and assistance.” Those services and assistance included emergency management services, solid waste disposal, water and sewer services, burial assistance, medical assistance, utility assistance, education assistance, and emergency assistance for tribal members in need of food and shelter.

President Star Comes Out told the court that Redfish “took our tribal funds that were earmarked to help our tribal people and used them to enrich herself. Her actions were selfish and despicable, and she should be held fully accountable under the law.”

Judge Theeler rejected Redfish’s pleas for lenience. She described Redfish’s actions as “shocking,” and sentenced her to the maximum term of imprisonment prescribed under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Judge Theeler also ordered Redfish to pay more than $4.7 million in restitution to the Tribe. Judge Theeler ordered Redfish to forfeit four properties she purchased with stolen funds. Those forfeited properties will be applied toward the restitution Redfish must pay to the Tribe.

The post Buffy Redfish sentenced to 6-5 years first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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