Former OST President sentenced to prison

Former OST President Julian Bear Runner in front of Federal Courthouse in Rapid City.

A federal judge, Linda Reade, has sentenced Julian Bear Runner, the former president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, to 22 months in prison for committing crimes such as wire fraud, larceny, embezzlement, and theft from an Indian Tribal Organization. Bear Runner will serve the 22-month sentence concurrently for each count. Upon his release, he will be under supervised release for three years and has been ordered to pay $82,483.71 in restitution to the tribe.

Bear Runner, 39, was indicted by a grand jury in September 2022, and after a three-day trial in April, he was found guilty of the charges. During his tenure as the tribe’s president, Bear Runner submitted fictitious travel vouchers claiming money for trips he never took. These included supposed official business trips to various states like New Mexico, Montana, Ohio, North Carolina, New York, and Arizona. In truth, Bear Runner misappropriated the funds, used them for gambling at a casino, and stayed in local hotels.

Bear Runner’s presidency, spanning from 2018 to the end of 2020, was marked by turmoil in tribal politics on the reservation. He faced suspension by the Oglala Tribal Council in September 2020 following allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor. Although he survived an impeachment hearing, he lost re-election in November of the same year.

Before the sexual misconduct allegations, Bear Runner was suspended in July for unilaterally imposing a COVID-19 lockdown without council input. This action brought back stringent COVID restrictions that he had previously implemented, contributing to some of the most severe pandemic responses in the country. Additionally, Bear Runner clashed with Gov. Kristi Noem over the use of roadblocks by tribal leaders to control virus spread, a measure that led to a high death toll among Native Americans during the pandemic.

The embezzlement case against Bear Runner was pursued under the Guardians Project, an initiative by federal law enforcement to combat public corruption, fraud, and embezzlement of public funds, as stated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“The Guardians Project is another step of federal law enforcement’s on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination, and positive action on behalf of tribal communities,” the office said. “Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the participating agencies include: the FBI; the Offices of Inspector General for the Departments of Interior, Health and Human Services, Social Security Administration, Agriculture, Transportation, Education, Justice, and Housing and Urban Development; IRS Criminal Investigation; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and the U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General.”

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