Former Mashpee Leader Admits Tax Fraud Linked to $1B Casino Project
Three years after receiving a prison sentence for soliciting bribes related to a tribal casino project, Cedric Cromwell, the former chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts, entered a guilty plea to federal tax fraud charges.
Cromwell, now 60, was found guilty in 2022 of taking bribes to save a $5 million consulting contract for an architectural firm on the tribe's unfinished $1 billion First Light Casino Project in Taunton, Massachusetts.
After trial, a federal judge first overturned several of Cromwell's convictions; however, in September 2024, a federal appeals court overturned that decision and reinstated the charges. The verdicts were upheld after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Cromwell's appeal in May 2025.
Seeking Resolution
As the project's tribal head and president of its gaming authority, he pled guilty last Thursday to four federal counts of filing false tax forms and failing to disclose approximately $177K in taxable income between 2014 and 2017.
The disgraced former leader is now prepared to wrap up a "long and difficult" judicial process, according to Cromwell's attorney Daniel Cloherty, who spoke to The Cape Cod Times.
“After many years of litigation, he and his family are looking forward to having the matter finally resolved,” Cloherty said.
The Genting-funded First Light project was prepared to begin construction in 2016 with the intention of giving the Mashpee, who are descended from the tribe that shared bread with the Pilgrims on the first Thanksgiving, economic self-determination.
However, the Trump administration moved to revoke the tribe's land-in-trust status after a federal court decision put a halt to the project. The Biden administration later overturned that ruling, giving the tribe their sovereign territory back and giving the casino new life.
Out of the Office
Following his indictment by a federal grand jury in November 2020, Cromwell was ousted from office. He was found guilty of asking David DeQuattro, the proprietor of RGB Architects in Rhode Island, for three bribes. According to court filings, they included checks, a hotel stay, and a Bowflex home gym.
When it was decided that there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that DeQuattro knowingly and criminally participated in the bribery scheme, his conviction was eventually overturned on appeal.
However, based on the pattern of payments, requests, and attempts at concealment, the same panel concluded that Cromwell intended to extort.
When the US Supreme Court refused to consider Cromwell's case in May of this year, that decision was maintained.
Cromwell's sentencing on the tax charges and the extortion convictions that were upheld on appeal is set for November.
The potential penalties for the false tax return accusations are three years in jail, one year of supervised release, and a fine of $100,000. Each count of extortion has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000.
