Devon Archer, a close friend and former business partner of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter, was sentenced on Monday for defrauding a Native American tribe. Archer could be sent to jail for one year and a half, and also serve one year on probation. He will also forfeit $14 million worth of property.
Archer gained notoriety when it emerged he introduced Hunter Biden – his partner at Rosemont Seneca – to the Ukrainian gas company Burisma back in 2014.
Both Archer and Biden sat on Burisma’s board of directors for years, reportedly being paid over $83,000 a month.
Monday’s sentence is not related to the Ukrainian gas deals, however, but the June 2018 conviction for conspiracy and securities fraud, over Archer’s role in a bond scheme to defraud an Oglala Sioux tribe to the tune of tens of millions.
Archer and two other defendants plotted to get the Wakpamni Lake Community Corporation issued a series tribal bonds. Archer also defrauded the tribe as well as the bond buyers while taking the proceeds, according to the court in 2018. Archer and another defendant used bonds to satisfy capital requirements for broker deals and then used the proceeds to purchase companies. “as part of a strategy to build a financial services conglomerate,”The Department of Justice.
Judge Ronnie Abrams, who said Monday the crime was too serious for him to spare prison, reduced the sentence from the requested 30 months. The judge reportedly mentioned the Covid-19 epidemic as the reason. The judge also gave a 1-year sentence of probation instead of the required three. Archer’s assets could be seized by the US to restitution for his tribe.
Abrams allowed Archer to remain in prison for 60 days, after which he promised to set another surrender date to appeal.
Archer tried to appeal the sentence all the ways to the US Supreme Court. In November 2021, it emerged that Archer had requested – and Judge Abrams had granted – permission to go on over 40 international trips since his indictment and even conviction.
This story can be shared on social media
[ad_2]
