Tribe takes step toward ousting Billie

The resolution accuses the longtime chairman of disruptive actions that smack of treason.

By JEFF TESTERMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 28, 2003

The Seminole Tribal Council voted unanimously Thursday to begin the process to permanently remove longtime chairman James E. Billie, saying his actions have disrupted tribal government and may be "tantamount to treason."

The council listed nine charges against Billie, most stemming from his alleged plan to divert tribal money to Belize and Nicaragua to establish an Internet gambling site.

The resolution accuses Billie of misrepresenting changes to the tribe's investment account that resulted in $20.3-million in losses. It says he concealed details of offshore companies set up to pursue Internet gambling and lied about the funneling of hundreds of thousands of dollars into a Nicaraguan hotel venture.

The resolution also alleges Billie helped falsify documents to cover up the Internet gambling plan, that he illegally gave former administrator Timmy Cox authority over tribal expenditures and that he loaned Cox and his partners $80,000 to fight the tribe in a legal battle over the Nicaraguan hotel.

The council will convene March 13 to consider the charges, hear Billie's defense, then vote on the resolution to remove him from his $312,000-a-year tribal chairmanship.

Billie, 58, a folk singer and onetime alligator wrestler credited with achieving new prosperity for the tribe, said Thursday he welcomes the opportunity to defend his "This is what they should have done all along," Billie said. "Instead, what they did was shoot me and ask questions later."

First elected in 1979, Billie led the Seminoles until May 2001, when the Tribal Council suspended him indefinitely, citing a sexual harassment suit against him and irregularities uncovered in a special audit of tribal finances.

The audit findings led to the indictment of Cox, tribal computer consultant Dan Wisher and contractor Michael Crumpton on federal charges of conspiracy, embezzlement and money laundering.

In December, however, a federal judge dismissed the charges after Billie testified that the defendants were working for him. He said he oversaw every phase of the secret plan to channel $2.77-million in tribal money into the offshore gambling site.

Billie said he was within his rights to pursue the plan because the $2.77-million was taken from the chairman's $10-million discretionary account. He also claimed he was quietly pursuing a pilot project that could bring fantastic wealth to the tribe.

A tribal consultant had estimated a Seminole Internet gambling site could make $740-million in three years. But at the federal trial, Billie said his offshore site brought in "a couple thousand, maybe $20,000" for the tribe before being shut down.

-- Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Jeff Testerman can be reached at (813) 226-3422 or by e-mail at testerman@sptimes.com .

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