BIA official cleared of wrongdoing in casino investigation

Brian Melley

Thursday, July 1, 2004 | 9:02 a.m.

SACRAMENTO -- A regional Bureau of Indian Affairs official was cleared of allegations that she used her authority to influence matters in her own tribe as it was seeking approval to build a $100 million casino in Amador County.

Deputy Regional Director Amy Dutschke, a member of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians, did not violate any rule, law or ethical standard, the Interior Department's inspector general concluded earlier this month.

In a three-page letter dated June 16, Inspector General Earl Devaney said he found no evidence that Dutschke took any official action regarding the tribe or advanced the interests of her family in the tribe.

"I was very confident we would pass with flying colors," Tribal Chairman Matt Franklin said. "There was never a doubt that we wouldn't pass."

A phone message left for Dutschke at the BIA office after business hours was not immediately returned.

The investigation followed calls by Congress to investigate alleged conflicts of interest aired in an article by the Associated Press. The inspector general had rejected earlier investigation requests until the article was published.

In February the AP -- relying on BIA and tribal documents -- reported that Dutschke, as acting regional director of the agency, oversaw a tribal election that swapped the old leadership with a pro-casino group that included some BIA officials.

Tribal members are split between the federally recognized leadership, which proposed the casino, and a smaller group that claims it was ousted by Dutschke and other BIA officials.

The minority group's complaints have been echoed by congressmen and county supervisors, leading to a separate and still-ongoing investigation by the FBI.

The story said Dutschke and 68 of her relatives are now the tribe's official list of registered voters, including an uncle and a niece who also work for the BIA. The inspector general confirmed that Dutschke's uncle and niece are BIA employees and tribal members, but disputed that 68 of her relatives were in the tribe.

"Whenever you deal with Indian people, we're all related," Franklin said.

The letter to Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., who called for the investigation, also said Dutschke recused herself in March 2001 from matters related to the Miwok Band.

Devaney also said another BIA employee, Carol B. Rogers-Davis, who resigned her post as elections committee chair after some tribal members objected, was not a member of the tribe as the article stated.

Rogers-Davis had no "blood relatives" in the tribe, the letter said. The article reported she had three relatives in the tribe but did not specify whether they were related by marriage.

The tribe's new leadership has been given nearly $2 million from a state trust fund and is aiming to build a $100 million, 2,000-slot machine gaming hall in Plymouth, in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The casino would generate and an estimated $185 million a year and enrich enrolled members.

Tribal members are not the only ones divided over the casino issue in this fast-growing wine region. Last month Plymouth voters recalled the mayor and two city council members who supported a pact with the tribe.