Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — A Navajo Nation judge has ruled that tribal council Speaker Johnny Naize and four current or former council delegates will stand trial together on bribery charges stemming from alleged improper use of a discretionary fund.
The Daily Times (http://bit.ly/1sXwPh0) reports that District Judge Carol Perry's ruling Tuesday grants a motion by the special prosecutor in the cases of Naize, Delegate David L. Tom and former delegates George Arthur, Leonard Teller and Ernest D. Yazzie Jr.
Each defendant is accused of providing money to family members from the council's discretionary fund and of developing a back-and-forth system to receive funding.
The discretionary fund was intended to allow delegates to help tribal members facing emergencies or financial hardship.
Perry says the court lacks funding to conduct separate trials for the defendants.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
