Chief held in B.C. prison, fighting deportation to U.S.

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American Indian leader Robert Satiacum has been held in a B.C. prison for the past three and a half years, fighting deportation to the United States.

The hereditary chief of the Puyallup Tribe in Tacoma, Washington was convicted of 42 racketeering charges in 1982 by U.S. authorities, who claim that Satiacum failed to pay sales tax on businesses making him a multi-millionaire.

Satiacum opened a business in 1970 selling cigarettes out of a tent and using a cigar box as a cash register on the Puyallup reserve. His business activities expanded to include a liquor store, nightclub, fireworks shop and gambling club. When the U.S. Internal Revenue Service began hounding him to pay sales tax on his businesses, he argued that an 1854 Treat signed with the government protected the Indian right to restricted commerce and "free trade", the loophole he basis his defense on.