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FBI looks into gifts Billie gave to woman
By JEFF TESTERMAN © St. Petersburg Times, published May 31, 2001
The FBI recently questioned Maria Santiago, 23, a one-time employee of a Seminole tourist attraction, about thousands of dollars in gifts Billie gave her. The agents wanted to know where Billie got the money for the gifts, Santiago said, including $1,100 in rent, Rolex watches, jewelry, a truck and a car. They also questioned her about trips she made with Billie aboard the tribe's corporate jet. Meanwhile, Billie's wife, Lesley, is accused in a police report of accosting Santiago in October, robbing her and threatening to "slice her open and pull her guts out." Mrs. Billie was angry because Santiago "is having a relationship with James M. Billie," according to a report by the Davie Police Department in Broward County. The FBI has also questioned Chris O'Donnell, a former tribal administrator who sued Billie May 10 alleging sexual harassment. O'Donnell claims Billie got her pregnant, forced her to have an abortion, then fired her. She contends Billie misappropriated $100,000 in phony sick leave to pay her off. Andrew Hall, O'Donnell's Miami attorney, confirmed Wednesday that the FBI had questioned his client but declined to disclose the nature of the interviews. Santiago, a former gift shop employee at the Billie Swamp Safari tourist attraction in Big Cypress, said federal agents called and asked about the origin of the money Billie used to buy her gifts and pay her rent. "All they wanted to talk about was James," Santiago said. "I told them his books are open. He's not hiding anything." Billie, 57, is the charismatic alligator wrestler and songwriter who has helped transform the Seminole Tribe into a corporate empire since he was first elected in 1979. Under his direction, the 2,800-member tribe has gained new prosperity, with each tribal member now receiving annual dividends of $24,000. Billie said in 1997 that he was paid about $200,000 annually. He owns a home in Big Cypress and a condo in Miami. The tribe has a $400-million plan on the drawing board to build Hard Rock Cafe hotel-casinos in Hollywood and Tampa, and is in talks with the U.S. Department of Interior to transform five tribal bingo halls into full Las Vegas-style casinos. State officials oppose the plan. About 95 cents of each dollar the tribe earns is from gambling. This year, with a federal investigation intensifying, tribal members have displayed an unusual discontent with Billie's spending practices and leadership. Last Thursday, in what amounted to a tribal coup, the other four members of the Tribal Council that Billie leads suspended him indefinitely, stripping him of all authority and pay, and barring him from using the tribe's corporate jets. "When the head of a reservation is under such a cloud, he is not a true representative of the tribe," said Seminole General Counsel Jim Shore. "That's why the council took the action it did." As if Billie didn't have enough to worry about, his wife now faces felony charges of strong-armed robbery of Santiago. Mrs. Billie, 28, was arrested on Oct. 27 and released the same day after posting $100,000 bail. She used as collateral a home she owns in the fashionable Weston neighborhood in Broward County. Property records show she bought the home in September last year for $379,900. No mortgage was recorded. Billie met his wife when she was 16 and he was still married to his first wife, Bobbi Lu Bowers Billie. Billie and Lesley had two children before he divorced Bobbi Lu. James married Lesley in 1999, and the couple is now expecting their third child. Mrs. Billie confronted Santiago on the Broward Community College Campus on Oct. 18, beat her with her fists and a cell phone, then grabbed a $900 gold and diamond necklace Billie had given her, according to a police report. Santiago also complained of threatening calls and anonymous letters showing magazine pictures of handguns. Santiago obtained a temporary restraining order, but Mrs. Billie violated that in Glades County and was arrested a second time, said Sandra Mulgrav, Santiago's attorney. Herbert M. Cohen, Mrs. Billie's attorney, said his client denies beating or robbing Santiago. He acknowledges that she confronted Santiago "as a normal wife would when she found out her husband was having an affair." Cohen was not surprised the FBI questioned Santiago. "James Billie has led an interesting lifestyle, and he thinks he can carry on with whomever he wants," he said. "I think the FBI is getting into anything they can with respect to his spending." Santiago said in a deposition that James Billie paid her college tuition, picked up her $1,100-a-month rent and took her to Las Vegas, New York and twice to Nicaragua on the tribe's jet, Cohen said. Santiago says she has no intention of breaking up with Billie. "We never make promises to each other," she said. "I'm not looking for marriage." - Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Jeff Testerman can be reached at (813) 226-3422.
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