Former Ho-Chunk Nation Legislator Sentenced in Bribery Case to Five Years in Federal Prison

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2012-07-12

John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Clarence Pettibone, 53, Black River Falls, Wisconsin, a former elected legislator of the Ho-Chunk Nation, was sentenced today by U.S. District Chief Judge William M. Conley to five years in federal prison for his role in a bribery scheme involving contracts awarded by the Ho-Chunk Nation. Pettibone pleaded guilty on April 10, 2012, to accepting a bribe.

The prosecutor argued that the bribery scheme, which ran from 2002 to 2009, generated $3,000,000 paid by clients from funds they received from the Ho-Chunk Nation, and that official corruption damages a society by eroding the very foundation of a government. The prosecutor also emphasized Pettibone’s knowing and extensive participation in this scheme.

In sentencing Pettibone to five years, Judge Conley said that Pettibone was “ a corrupt—not just corrupted—official” who took multiple bribes. Judge Conley found that Pettibone violated the trust of the rightly-proud Ho-Chunk Nation and that his sentence should “send a message that corruption will not be tolerated, excused, or unpunished.”

Source: U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation

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