An Washington man has admitted guilt to federal charges for deception of Indian-made products and other products. The case stems from his participation in a broader scheme to sell more than $1 million worth of fraudulent Alaska Native art in Ketchikan.
A plea agreement that was filed by the District Court of Alaska, Jessie Halili Reginio was accused with a violation of the Federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act by claiming stone carvings and wooden totem poles as traditional art created from local Lingit and Haida craftsmen. The actual production was by the Philippines. The items were sold through two retail stores located in Ketchikan: Alaska Stone Art and Rail Creek.
The stores were run by Cristobal Magno Rodrigo as well as his family members.
Reginio employed by the family’s stores. He earned commissions from their Filipino merchandise they sold. The plea agreement outlines his involvement starting in the year 2019. Reginio has portrayed himself as the son of an Alaska Native carver named “Sonny.”
The month of May, the year 2019, Reginio was awarded a commission for an carved stone bear with a fish’s mouth, which was sold for around $1500. In July that year Reginio sold a stone eagle at nearly $6,500. In the month prior to when his involvement in the scheme was supposed to have ended, he offered an humpback whale made in the Philippines to an undercover police officer. The whale was registered using a fake name “Kilit.”
Federal authorities have stated that Reginio would tell customers that he learned how to carve from following his brothers and cousin “Kilit,” both Lingit master carvers. In a subsequent discussion with a client He misrepresented his employer Cristobal Rodrigo as being his unnamed cousin, “Kilit.”
Rodrigo received two-year prison for his role of the crime in August of this year. This is the longest sentence ever imposed to the Indian Arts and Crafts Act violation in the United States.
In a statement issued at that time Alaska District Attorney S. Lane Tucker said that Rodrigo’s dramatic sentence reflected the government’s commitment to protect the indigenous culture and Rodrigo’s families’ actions are “a culture-based affront to Alaska Native craftsmen.”
