Gregory Scott Baker, 48, of Newcastle, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Sacramento to five years and four months in prison for his part in defrauding a local tribe in a construction project.
Baker taught business and real estate classes at American River College for many years.
He used his position as tribal administrator for the United Auburn Indian Community to approve inflated construction costs, for which he received $1.4 million in kickbacks.
In addition to the prison time, he was ordered by U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley to pay $18 million in restitution.
The case stems from the development in 2006 of four buildings in Auburn for the United Auburn Indian Community. The same tribe owns Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln.
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The tribe hired developer Bart Volen to complete construction of the four buildings for the tribe’s residential community near its historic home. Volen submitted false and inflated invoices to the tribe knowing that Baker, a tribal employee, would approve them. Some 160 cost proposals were inflated to more than $17 million over market rate, according to court records.
Volen pleaded guilty in 2014 to submitting false and inflated invoices to the tribe for work related to a school, a community center and two administrative offices on Indian Hill Road in Auburn. Baker pleaded guilty in November.