Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Robert Salgado, Former Chairman of SOBOBA, Pleads Guilty on Bribery

Robert Salgado, former Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, who was relieved of duty in November 2009 pleads GUILTY.  He had tried to blame this on Riverside Sheriffs, remember

FORMER TOP OFFICIAL WITH INLAND EMPIRE INDIAN TRIBE PLEADS GUILTY, ADMITS TAKING NEARLY $875,000 IN BRIBES


LOS ANGELES – The former chairman of the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians pleaded guilty this afternoon to federal charges related to his acceptance of approximately $875,000 in bribes from tribal vendors and concealing that income from the Internal Revenue Service.

Robert Salgado Sr., 68, pleaded guilty to two felony charges – bribery and subscribing to a false tax return. Salgado pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Dean D. Pregerson, who earlier in the day heard a prosecutor’s opening statement on the first day of a trial for Salgado.

In a plea agreement filed today, Salgado admits that he accepted a total of $874,995 in bribe payments from five vendors who did business with the Soboba Band. The payments to Salgado, which were made by vendors hoping to obtain or being allowed to keep contracts with the tribe, were given to Salgado in the form of cash, payments made to his creditors and checks payable to an entity controlled by Salgado.

In the plea agreement, Salgado specifically admits:
  • receiving $486,152 from a vendor involved in the tribe’s $12.5 million purchase of a golf course now called The Country Club at Soboba Springs and other real estate purchases;
  • taking approximately $184,000 in bribes from a second vendor who was awarded food concession and other contracts at the Soboba Casino;
  • accepting bribes totaling $89,000 from a vendor who received a series of construction contracts from the Soboba Bank;
  • taking $65,843 in bribes, plus “substantial cash payments which cannot be quantified,” from another vendor who received a series of construction contracts; and
  • accepting a total of $50,000 in bribes from Abbas Shilleh, the owner of California Parking Services, Inc., which provides valet parking at the Soboba Casino.
  • Salgado also pleaded guilty to a tax offense, admitting that he filed a 2001 tax return that claimed he and his wife earned $146,114, but in reality earned “substantially in excess of that amount.” In the plea agreement, Salgado admits he “also did not report his income accurately” for tax years 2002 through 2006, and that he owes the IRS a total of $226,187 in back taxes.

Judge Pregerson is scheduled to sentence Salgado on February 7, 2010. As a result of today’s guilty pleas, Salgado faces a statutory maximum sentence of 13 years in federal prison. The plea agreement contemplates a sentence of 87 months to 108 months in prison, but the actual sentence will be determined by Judge Pregerson.

Shilleh, 47, of Diamond Bar, was indicted along with Salgado last year. Shilleh, who has pleaded not guilty in the case, is scheduled to go on trial before Judge Pregerson on February 1.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS - Criminal Investigation.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

next! next! next!

some mentor!

What is punishment for illegally enrolled stealing funds?

Anonymous said...

Yes, didn't Mark Macarro say that Mr. Salgado was a mentor of his who he looked up to?

And is Mark next?

Anonymous said...

si!

Anonymous said...

Can you feel it old Marky Boy they are coming for you!!! Sleep well...

injun joe said...

What Bobby Selgado did is peanuts compared to Mark & Jenny & Butch. It's just a matter of time...you can run but you can't hide.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Linus, but the Great Pumpkin will not be coming this Halloween as he has bigger things worry about.

BARRETTA said...

Good!What they think they above the law I don't think so.DON'T DO THE CRIME IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE TIME......................

Anonymous said...

Is that bsupposed to say Feb 7 2011 for sentancing?..or is this an old article?

Anonymous said...

That's got to be a typo and sentencing would be next year. This just happened for Salgado.

Anonymous said...

I guess this will end up being a life sentence on Mr. Salgado. Too bad he chose this path.

Anonymous said...

Is Mr. Salgado a memeber of that tribe? If so, other tribal members might or are being investigated as well.

'aamokat said...

Yes, Mr. Salgado is a Soboba tribal member and it wouldn't surprise me that he is not the only one involved in this.

Very sad he chose this path but he admits to doing the crime so he has jail time coming.

Anonymous said...

Bobby Salgado was the "big fish" in this crime. He was the one in power.

There were half a dozen others, not in the tribe that were caught in this.

No word of whether his wife goes down for the tax fraud?

stand your ground said...

A former Soboba tribal council member, Michael Castello, turned him in.

Were is the Pechanga tribal member that will turn in CORRUPT MARK MACARRO? WHO WILL GIVE HIM UP? Anyone??????

Are you to scared of this LITTLE TYRANT? IS HE NOT KNOWN AS GODS GIFT TO CORRUPT POLITICIANS?

You are a sad bunch of people on that reservation, you are not fit to be called TRUE NATIVES, ohhhhh I forgot...YOU ARE NOT TRU NATIVES.

Anonymous said...

THEY ARE JUST A BUNCH OF CASINO INDIAINS, IN IT JUST FOR THE MONEY,THEY HAVE NO EDUCATION WERE ON WELFARE, IN OTHER WORDS DUMB MEXICANS AFRAID TO SPEAK UP OR ELSE. BACK TO WELFARE!

Anonymous said...

i hope that abbas shilleh will go to prison for a real long time beacuse i know that animal as well as all of them and who ever plays with the law

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately corruption knows no race, cultural or religious barriers and must not taint the remaining honest hard working native americans that have fought bravely to save our country and others during World War II.

Lets not forget that they were the first victims of genocide when the white man came to acquire their land and resources.

Anonymous said...

how come that the only name that was published was the name of an arab? are we back to the time of prejudice? may be we are since 20..
That'aint the U.S. that i know
PS. iam affraid to give my ID.

Anonymous said...

Crime never pays. Eventually it will catch up to you and there will be bad consequences.