A Mendocino County biologist has pleaded guilty to conspiring with a Yurok tribal member who embezzled more than $800,000 in federal grant funding intended for environmental studies.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said that Ron LeValley of Little River entered the guilty plea on Tuesday.
"I did make a mistake," LeValley said Thursday. He said he erred by signing false invoices submitted by the Yurok tribe's former forestry director, Roland Leroy Raymond.
Raymond has admitted to spending the money on drugs and gambling, according to federal court documents. He was sentenced last month to three years in prison and ordered to pay $852,000 in restitution.
LeValley said he did not know Raymond was stealing money from the tribe and federal government. "I thought the money was going to be used to support a tribal project, people doing forestry work," he said. The case revolved around the apparent misuse of federal grant funds obtained for Endangered Species Act biological assessments on Yurok tribal land in Del Norte and Humboldt counties.
According to court records, Raymond convinced LeValley and others at Mad River Biologists, a consulting firm based in Eureka, to submit dozens of invoices to the tribe for environmental assessments they had not performed. Raymond misled LeValley, saying he needed the money for timber clearing and other fire prevention work that was needed but for which there was no funding, according to court documents. Raymond also told LeValley he wanted to give bonuses to Mad River Biologists and the fire crews, according to court records.
LeValley said he did not know the invoices were for federal grants with specific requirements. But he admitted knowing they contained false information.
The embezzlement began in 2007 and ended in 2010, according to court records.
Mad River consultants normally would submit invoices and Raymond would approve them. Mad River Biologists then funneled most of the money back to Raymond when the invoices were paid, according to court documents.
Raymond also prepared and submitted many of the invoices himself, according to court records.
The embezzlement of federal funds designated for tribal uses is common, according to a recent survey by the Associated Press.
LeValley said the case has decimated his consulting business because it was unable to take on federal contracts for six months. "I went from 21 employees to one," he said.
LeValley is also a photographer and was a member of the Marine Life Protection Act science advisory team for the North Coast.
He's scheduled to be sentenced May 20. He faces a maximum of five years in prison, federal authorities said.
(You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com.)
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