A federal jury has found two people liable under the RICO Act for running an illegal smokeshop in Cayuga County.
The verdict, delivered December 11 in Seneca Falls, names Dustin Parker and Nora Weber as the operators of the business, which called itself “Pipekeepers.”
According to the Cayuga Nation, Parker and Weber tried to present the business as legal by claiming tribal affiliation — a strategy that didn’t hold up in court.
“The defendants wanted the jury to believe they were conducting a business allowed under the law, but the evidence showed otherwise,” said Clint Halftown, the Nation’s federal representative.
In addition to the civil case, Nation prosecutors have charged both defendants with violating banishment orders. The Nation says its governing council issued those orders after formal notice and a hearing.
Both Parker and Weber will have a right to due process in the Nation’s prosecution, officials said.
Halftown added that the Nation has laws in place to protect its citizens from illegal businesses and to stop people from profiting by falsely claiming to act on behalf of the tribal government.
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