46-year-old Billings contractor Kevin McGovern pleaded guilty on Wednesday to wire fraud and to theft from an Indian tribal organization– federal crimes accusing him and two of his former companies of defrauding the Chippewa Cree Tribe in north central Montana and the federal government in a series of schemes involving inflated and phony invoices and kickbacks.
In a U.S. District Court hearing in Great Falls, McGovern pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors that will settle three separate indictments.  Prosecutors agreed to recommend a prison sentence not to exceed six years for McGovern and to seek dismissal of other charges.  McGovern pleaded on behalf of himself and his former company, MC Equipment Holdings LLC, over a deal involving a portable paving plant.  McGovern faced a maximum of 20 years for wire fraud, and up to $500,000 in fines on each count.

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