Ex-tribal Officer Gets 6 Months for Theft from Youth Program

GREAT FALLS — A former Montana tribal police officer who stole $40,000 from a youth diversion program has been sentenced to six months in prison.

Willard Wilson White III was sentenced Wednesday and ordered to pay restitution in addition more than $18,000 in back taxes. The 44-year-old Glasgow man pleaded guilty in June to wire fraud and income tax evasion.

Prosecutors say White approached the Fort Peck Law and Justice Committee in 2015 with a proposal for a program to help Assiniboine (uh-SINN’-uh-boyn) and Sioux tribal youth avoid incarceration. Within a month, he had spent all of the program’s funds on himself without providing any services.

U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme says White’s crimes violated the trust placed in him as a law enforcement officer and hurt taxpayers and Fort Peck children.

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