A Uintah Basin man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after extorting oil and gas businesses on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, according to the Dept. of Justice.
Leallen Blackhair, 47, used his position as the Compliance Supervisor for the Energy and Minerals Dept. of the Ute Tribe to extort $109,925 for personal gain over the course of three years, the DOJ said.
He reportedly used the extortion money on dining, shopping, and trips to amusement parks — including Disneyland, Legoland, Las Vegas, Disney World, SeaWorld, Universal Pictures.
Blackhair’s responsibilities included issuing fines to oil and gas businesses working on the reservation that “violated their access permits and business licenses,” the DOJ said.
Blackhair reportedly used his position to convince companies to pay him personally by offering to reduce fines against them. He extorted 66 payments in total between August 2010 and May 2013, the DOJ said.
“Ninety-five percent of all revenue for the Ute Tribe comes from the oil and gas industries work on the reservation. As the gatekeeper, Blackhair determined whether businesses could return to work on the reservation,” a press release from the DOJ states.
Through extortion, Blackhair reportedly more than doubled his $50,000 salary and targeted “mostly small, ‘mom and pop’ businesses,” the DOJ said.
Blackhair was sentenced March 22, 2024, before Federal District Court Judge Jill N. Parish after pleading guilty to eight counts of extortion and one count of attempted extortion.
