A former Gun Lake Casino employee has admitted to stealing more than $84,000 from the property owned and operated by the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians near Wayland.
A federal grand jury in the Western District of Michigan in March indicted Jordan Lewis Clark on federal charges related to embezzlement and theft from an “Indian Tribal Organization.”
Federal prosecutors alleged that Clark repeatedly stole from the Gun Lake Casino while working at the property as a floor machine attendant. After being arraigned in May and released on $10,000 bail, Clark and his attorneys concluded that it was in his best interest to admit his guilt.
Clark entered into a plea agreement late last month, and US Magistrate Judge Ray Kent accepted the settlement last Friday. Clark pleaded guilty to a single charge of theft from an Indian Tribal Organization.
Cash Out Money Disappears
Federal prosecutors alleged, and Clark later admitted to, stealing at least $84,564 from the Gun Lake Casino. Clark conceded to stealing the money from “cash out machines” that became disabled after clogging.
Clark’s job responsibility included tending to machines and self-service ticket-in, ticket-out (TITO) kiosks and cash redemption terminals when they malfunctioned. Clark said when the machines clogged, he frequently pocketed some of the cash.
Clark admitted in his plea deal to stealing from the tribal casino from roughly September 2021 through November 2022.
Clark said he stole cash from the machines on no less than 32 separate occasions. The plea deal requires by law that Clark make full restitution of the stolen money to the Gun Lake Casino.
Clark additionally faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the maximum penalty provided for a person found guilty of a single theft of an Indian Tribal Organization.