Hugo Gallegos guilty of defrauding Whitecap Dakota Nation
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Members of the Whitecap Dakota First Nation hugged their chief outside Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench on Friday as the band’s former accountant admitted stealing cash from the people he used to work for.
Hugo Edgardo Gallegos, 41, is accused of pocketing more than $1 million from the Saskatchewan First Nation just south of Saskatoon, between January 2009 and July 2013. The amount he admitted to stealing was not revealed in court, however, he did plead guilty to two counts of theft over $5,000 and two counts of fraud over $5,000.
Gallegos also pleaded guilty to laundering the proceeds of crime and possession of property obtained by crime.
Darcy Bear, chief of the Whitecap Dakota First Nation, said the guilty pleas have been a long time coming.
“I was expecting it could be a not guilty plea today, but certainly it’s good to see that there’s finally some closure here on the guilty pleas,” he said outside of court.
“There’s always been a lot of delay tactics, so I was just expecting another delay tactic today but that didn’t happen, and so this step is out of the way, now we look forward to September 2.”
