No jail time for Poundmaker chief, councillors

Eight members of the Poundmaker First Nation who admitted stealing treaty money from their band’s Treaty Land Entitlement fund have been ordered to repay the funds into a special bank account that will be used to benefit school children on the reserve. However, Provincial Court Judge Dan O’Hanlon did not order any of them to serve jail time although most will be providing 50 to 100 hours of community service. Poundmaker’s current Chief Duane Antoine, 53, current band councillor Colin Favel, 53, Ted Antoine, 57, Norman Antoine, 64, Burton Baptiste, 58, Hickson Weenie, 67, Bryan Tootoosis, 61, and Irene Tootoosis, 72, were charged after an extensive RCMP investigation and pleaded guilty last year to theft under $5,000. Each admitted wrongly accepting $2,500 in TLE funds from the band in June 2003. Favel, Irene Tootoosis and Bryan Tootoosis also pleaded guilty to theft over $5,000 for a separate transaction in which they each received $10,000. Duane and Teddy Antoine both received suspended sentences with 20 months of probation. Baptiste, Weenie and Norman Antoine each received a suspended sentence with 18 months of probation. Favel and Bryan Tootoosis received a conditional sentence of one year to be followed by 12 months of probation and Irene Tootoosis received a conditional discharge with 12 months of probation.