State: Ousted tribal leader barred from election

During his ouster from the chairmanship of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, James E. Billie vowed to seek re-election, saying he would "run forever" to get back his $312,000-a-year job.

But he won't be allowed to run this year, the tribal council said this week.

Based on residency requirements, the council declared Billie ineligible to seek a seventh term as chairman in elections scheduled May 12.

"It was determined that Billie was living at his girlfriend's house in Moore Haven, and that is not part of a Seminole reservation," said tribal general counsel Jim Shore.

The Seminole Tribe's election ordinance requires that a candidate for chairman live on the Seminole reservation in Hollywood, Brighton or Big Cypress for at least 10 months of each of the four years preceding an election.

Billie, who is estranged from his second wife, testified in a federal trial of former tribal associates in December that he had been living with his girlfriend, whose residence is in Glades County. Because of that off-reservation residency, Billie was previously listed as ineligible to vote on a charter amendment ballot question in November.

First elected in 1979, Billie, 59, is credited with bringing new prosperity to the 3,000-member Seminole Tribe through the aggressive pursuit of casino gambling. But he drew the enmity of tribal members with his plan to buy a $50-million Gulfstream V corporate jet and with his secret scheme to funnel $2.7-million of tribal funds to Belize and Nicaragua to set up an Internet gambling site.

On March 18, after finding he had lied repeatedly to the tribe, ignored constitutional constraints and treated the tribal government "as his kingdom," the council permanently removed Billie from his chairman's job.

Billie fired back last week with a lawsuit. He claimed tribal officials conspired to remove him after he tried to freeze council members' spending.

Billie says in the federal suit that he was falsely accused of sexual harassment and of embezzling funds, then removed without due process. He has asked a federal judge to reinstate him and is seeking $1-million in damages.

The attorney handling Billie's suit, Robert O. Sanuooke, filed his own suit against the tribe last year concerning a three-year, $450,000 contract to work as Billie's legal adviser.

Saunooke said he abandoned a successful law practice in Florida and North Carolina when offered the $150,000-a-year legal adviser's job by Billie. Saunooke was hired Nov. 11, 2000, but terminated by the council May 3, 2001, about three weeks before the council put Billie on suspension.

In his complaint, Saunooke claimed that the tribe fired him improperly and still owed him $187,500. The tribe contended that Billie had no authority to offer a contract to Saunooke, since the council never approved a resolution creating a new legal position.

This week, a federal judge dismissed the suit based on the tribe's sovereign immunity, the doctrine that says a sovereign nation is immune from lawsuits.

-- Jeff Testerman can be reached at (813) 226-3422, or by e-mail at testerman@sptimes.com .

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