INDIAN TOWNSHIP – Past and current members of the Passamaquoddy tribal government said Friday they had witnessed a pattern of questionable financial practices by former Tribal Gov. Robert L. Newell, who was indicted Thursday on 30 counts of misusing federal and tribal funds.

According to the federal indictment, nearly $1.7 million was misapplied by Newell and Indian Township financial director James J. Parisi Jr. of Portland for uses not allowed by federal law. Among the charges, Newell had channeled money to his family and used funds designated for other programs to pay honorariums to tribal officials.

“I feel confident over time that we will be able to make it right,” Newell, 64, said Friday. Reflecting on the past few months, Newell said, “You know I didn’t do anything any different than any other tribal government. So we will see what happens.”

Newell said his attorney advised him to say nothing more.

Former tribal councilor and Gov. John Stevens said Friday he was not surprised by the 30-count indictment. “A lot of it is true,” he said.

Stevens said Newell had handed out honorariums. He said when he was a tribal councilor he received a $5,000 check from Newell. “He’d send it through the mail,” he said. “I didn’t know what it was for. He never told us.” The former tribal governor said other councilors received even higher amounts.

Stevens said when he questioned Newell about where the money had come from, Newell told him the auditor said it was all right for the money to be disbursed in that manner. Stevens said he then requested that the auditor address the council. “The auditor said it was all right,” he said.

Tribal Clerk Denise Polches said Friday that when she asked questions about what was going on at the tribal office, Newell laid her off in 2004.

Polches said she was aware of Newell’s honorarium for tribal councilors. Some tribal councilors, she said, received bonuses and clothing allowances of $500 a year on top of their meeting fees and travel expenses. Asked how the governor could continue the alleged practice for so long, Polches said, “A lot of people put governors on a pedestal.”

Newell served as a tribal governor on three different occasions – once at Pleasant Point, the tribe’s sister reservation near Eastport, and twice at Indian Township. Each time his tenure ended with allegations of mishandling of tribal funds. No charges had resulted from those allegations until Thursday.

Newell’s term of office at Indian Township from 2002 to 2006 produced an investigation that led to the federal indictment, according to court documents.

Parisi, 45, who is facing 21 counts, served as finance director from 2003 to 2006. Parisi’s attorney, George Dilworth of Portland, said Thursday that his client is innocent.

The past

In 1978, Newell was elected tribal governor at Pleasant Point. Two years later, tribal members circulated a petition demanding his recall, claiming that he was “remiss in keeping the tribe informed of how federal funds and programs were being administered.” Newell resigned.

A Pleasant Point tribal member who asked not to be identified said Friday that if Pleasant Point tribal officials at the time had called for an investigation by outside agencies into Newell’s activities, things might have been different today. “All we did was pass our problems on to another community,” he said.

Pleasant Point Tribal Gov. Rick Doyle had no comment Friday on Newell’s latest problems.

Newell moved to Indian Township and in 1986 was elected governor.

During his tenure, tribal members accused Newell of misusing tribal assets and of favoritism in employment practices. Nothing came of those accusations, and in 1990 he sought re-election and won.

But it was a rocky term of office.

In January 1993, the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs temporarily suspended all timber sales on Passamaquoddy trust lands, citing inadequate oversight of timber harvesting activities among other deficiencies. Newell said at the time that it was nothing more than politics on the part of the federal government. Eventually the issue was resolved.

A month later, tribal members circulated a petition demanding that Newell turn over his administrative duties, including the handling of tribal funds, to the tribal council. They agreed he could keep his job as a ceremonial governor. A few days later a counterpetition was launched in favor of Newell. Newell stepped down as administrator but later was reinstated as interim administrator.

In March 1993, tribal members called for Newell’s resignation again, claiming that the governor had mishandled tribal funds. When Newell didn’t resign, tribal members seized the tribal office and held it for 19 hours while attorneys negotiated with Newell. Among those seizing control was Chris Polches.

Newell agreed to hold an election and on March 11, 1993, he was voted out of office.

Newell ran for governor of Indian Township again in 2002 and handily defeated the incumbent.

In 2005, Newell’s handling of tribal finances was again called into question. A petition was circulated requesting that he step down as tribal administrator. Newell rejected the petition, but rather than allow the tribal office to be taken over as in 1993, he closed it until tensions on the reservation lessened.

In April 2006, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs arrived on the reservation to review tribal records. Newell said at the time that the visit was routine.

In August 2006, investigators returned. Newell denied he was the target of the investigation, but confirmed he was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury as a witness. Newell’s financial adviser Parisi also was subpoenaed.

Out of that investigation the 30-count indictment was handed up, according to court documents. Even though he was the target of a federal investigation, Newell ran for governor. In September 2006, William Nicholas defeated him. Nicholas remains governor today.

Tribal reaction

Nicholas said honorariums no longer are handed out on the reservation. They ended when he took office. He said the tribe was in a financial mess.

In a March 17 letter to tribal members, Nicholas said his administration has had to cover more than $4 million in debt the tribe owed vendors and federal programs – bills he said were left behind by Newell.

“I am tired of hearing the same old saying, ‘I gave it to the people,'” Nicholas said of Newell. “Today the people in our community are suffering from mismanagement from the old administration, and all this new administration has done is continue to clean up the mess that was left for us.”

Nicholas said Friday he knew when he took over as governor things were bad, but he was unprepared for the crisis he faced. Although he said he could not talk about the investigation, he said that it was his and the current councilors’ role to make the tribe solvent. “My goal is to look out for the future of the community and the children and provide for our elders,” he said. He said he also wants to put people to work.

Meanwhile, news of the charges against Newell drew mixed reactions from tribal members.

“I voted for the guy. I really did,” tribal member Chris Polches said Friday, adding that he voted for Newell even though he knew there had been allegations of mismanagement of funds. Polches, who is married to Denise Polches, said he was one of a handful of tribal members who in 1993 forced then-Gov. Newell out of office during a standoff at the tribal office. The allegations at the time: Newell was mishandling tribal funds.

“I thought he’d learned. But he fell back to his old ways,” Polches said reflectively.

Tribal elder George Sockabasin said that he continued to support Newell despite the indictment. “He helped a lot of people,” he said.

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