United States v. Earl Largo

Defendant was convicted of one misdemeanor and one felony charge of violating 18 U.S.C. § 641 (1982) by converting to his own use money belonging to the United States. The convictions arise out of the defendant’s embezzlement of federal funds provided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to an organization called the Shiprock Early Childhood Development Program (SECDP). Defendant was president of the Board of Trustees of SECDP and on several occasions wrote checks to himself from the SECDP account to pay his income taxes and other personal expenses.

Defendant makes three arguments on appeal. First…