Local Man Sentenced for Fraud

(AP)  A Brainerd man will be spending two and a half years in prison for embezzling more than a half million dollars from the Mille Lacs band of Ojibwe.

Erick Makowski has admitted to taking $600 thousand from the tribe between 2005 and 2007. 

The prosecution says he coordinated fraudulent and excessive payments to contractors and then arranged for kickbacks.