MINNEAPOLIS — Eric Makowski-Budrow, a former Brainerd paid on-call firefighter, was sentenced to 30 months in prison Thursday for his role in embezzling more than $600,000 from the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
Makowski-Budrow, 31, Brainerd, was sentenced in federal court in Minneapolis by U.S. District Court Judge David S. Doty on one count of embezzlement from a tribal organization. Makowski was charged Nov. 24, 2009, and pleaded guilty on Dec. 7, 2009.
Makowski-Budrow was as a paid on-call firefighter for Brainerd from Aug. 1, 2006, until Oct. 4, when he was unanimously fired by the Brainerd City Council for his role in the tribal embezzlement. Makowski-Budrow also previously served on the Brainerd Planning Commission and Housing and Redevelopment Authority but resigned from those positions after the city started investigating his federal crime.
In his plea agreement, Makowski admitted that between 2005 and June 13, 2007, he, in his capacity as a construction project manager for Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, coordinated fraudulent and excessive payments to contractors. He then arranged kickbacks from a vendor to enrich himself.
In order to further the scheme, Makowski admitted he rigged bids and created false documents. He also misused a commercial account funded by the band at Home Depot stores in order to purchase things he was not authorized or entitled to receive. He then used those items to improve the property of others.
On Jan. 4, 2011, Judge Doty also sentenced a second defendant, Jason Allen Heinlen, 33, Belle Plaine, to five years of probation for aiding and abetting the embezzlement. Heinlen was charged on April 1, 2009, and pleaded guilty on April 17, 2009.
In his plea agreement, Heinlen admitted receiving cash and other property belonging to the band, knowing it had been embezzled. Furthermore, he admitted he intended to use the money and property for his own personal benefit as well as the benefit of another.
This case was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Interior-Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James E. Lackner and Robert M. Lewis.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
Comments (13)
Add comment:) :) :) :) :) :)
:) guess the title says it all
Ex-Firefighter given prison sentence of 30 months.
Let's see. 30 months for over $600,000. That's over $20,000 a month. And we want to teach our children that crime doesn't pay?? How does that work?
40,000 a month
cause he'll only serve 15 months
Always behind you, Eric and
Always behind you, Eric and family!
You should not throw stones if you live in a glass house
So, let me get this correct, Eric and family were so offended by the Warrior Indian Head at hockey making it ever so clear to everyone that it was insensative and wrong while the whole time he was stealing money from the Tribe...hum?
Always behind you
Always behind you? Yep, just like bubba will be in prison.
.
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Wrong?
I can tell you I never stole $600,000.00.
You will support a man that embezzled money?
From the Native Americans, then threatened to sue Brainerd because they pointed out and made public he was a criminal?
Just how sympathetic do you expect us to be for a guy like this...? honestly?
And lastly...WHY? He needs to face some serious "reality" time and I hope that he learns something from his stupid actions.
He got caught and he will do
He got caught and he will do his time, Im not defending anyone but the matter is he stole and if he stole from you would you want him to be in prison? Yes... no doubt he will be sitting in federal custody along with Denny and everyother criminal. But this is somethoing that will follow him for the rest of his life, he wont be able to get a decent job, and any financial gains will be attached until his debt is satisfied. He wont do two thirds of his time he will do all of it. He's one who got caught with his hands in the cookie jar. So lets not make him out to be a victim because he's far from it. He owesa lotof money and it will follow him around for the rest of his life like old luggage.
northerngirl
Northerngirl I won't repeat what you said in a pm, as to the rules of the dispatch, but the job of the State's Foster-care program is to place children in good, safe, crime-free homes.
When children are placed in their care, they are NOT "Their Children", they are Wards of the State.
For the State to allow any child to continue to be left in the care of a Felon is not only highly controversial but against the terms of being a foster-parent, e.g.; remain law abiding citizens..
He plead guilty to a Felony in 2009, their foster-parenting should have ended there, as he continued to live in the home.
P.S. How many strings did Eric have to pull to be hired to work on a military base e.g.; Camp Ripley, after pleading guilty to a Felony?
Does the military just accept ones previous Military experience without doing a background check?
After 9/11 one would think everyone is gone over with a fine tooth comb.
Well....
In the Dispatch's defense, They wouldn't know if someone was a foster-parent or not... You usually have to know someone who works with the system or know the family.. I've never met Eric or his wife.. : )
Funny how the State takes a lot of children for petty, trivial, "at risk" reasons, starting a process that brings Federal money to the County...
But once in the system are left in homes that may be worse than where they came from.... And the Federal money keeps rolling in..
Now that the Dispatch knows, maybe they should dig in and "buck the system" on these cases, they may find a gold mine in coverage, but we know Morris Communications isn't known for bucking the system...
Research
I am commenting to this blog after reading Getagrip's response that he did not steal $600,000. I'm assuming this is either coming from family or Eric himself. I have carefully researched this case for a college research project. Not only did Makowski steal money, he stole property and unauthorized merchandise from Home Depot. Not only that, but he talked his buddy Mr. Heinlen into thinking embezzling was a good idea. This case should haunt both men for the rest of their lives, stealing in any form is wrong. I would hope that any future employer would do a background check. If either man lies on an application, that can be considered fraud and more charges can be brought upon them. Honestly I don't think either Makowski or Heinlen did this to personally attack the Ojibwe, what I see via my research was an easy opportunity for the men to embezzle and they took advantage of that. But I couldn't stand by and read someone posting that $600,00.00 was never stollen when the FBI files are publically accessible. There is solid proof out there that not only was money stollen, but the houses were searched with warrants and all of the property had been seized.