The trial dates of Fred Paquin, 52, and his daughter, Mary Cullen, 28, both of St. Ignace, have been rescheduled to June 21, with final pretrial conferences set for June 7, and a request has been made by the plaintiffs for separate trials. The outcome of that request, made Monday, April 26, has yet to be decided. The trials were originally to begin April 27 and will now come before Judge R. Allen Edgar and a jury in June in U.S. District Court in Marquette.

Mr. Paquin, a former Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians police chief, pled not guilty in January to 15 charges related to an alleged conspiracy to defraud the United States of America by dishonest means. Mrs. Cullen was arraigned on four charges in the same case March 5 in the federal court and stood mute, leading the court to enter a plea of not guilty on her behalf.

In an indictment by a grand jury, Mr. Paquin and Mrs. Cullen are facing charges related to an alleged conspiracy to pay Mrs. Cullen as a full-time employee after she was no longer working full-time for the tribe. The indictment followed a 2002-2008 investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General, Fraud Detection Office.

Following their arraignments, Mr. Paquin and Mrs. Cullen have been free on bond.

Each of the counts against Mr. Paquin in the indictment carries maximum sentences of either one, five, or 10 years imprisonment plus fines, financial restitution, probationary periods, and fees. Each of the four counts against Mrs. Cullen carries maximum sentences of five years imprisonment, fines, fees, and probationary periods.